Mad Hatter
by Confession68
Summary: He seems to be calling to her, her dreams becoming clearer and clearer. What does he want from her? Why is he calling to her? No matter how much she doesn't want to be, she's drawn to his call. And she's afraid that soon, she would go to him. LuNa. AU.
1. Part I: The Dream

**Author's Note: **Okay so, this was another idea I've been considering working on for some time, but just never got around to it. It's also another cheer up fic, because apparently, Surise's circumstances just took a turn for the worst! DX It's taking me longer than planned to finish this fic, so I've decided to make it a three parter. Here's the first part. You guys should seriously check out the song mentioned in the fic. It kinda goes! XD It's pretty much what a lot of this fic is based off of, really. This song really inspired me to write this, as well as a manga/anime called Pandora Hearts. I plan on making a Pandora Hearts AMV with this song one day! XD I just need to find the time. -_- Also, there are some things that happen in the fic, which I want to say so now. **THERE ARE NO OTHER PAIRINGS IMPLIED OR INTENDED IN THIS FIC BESIDES LUNA. **So, don't get the wrong idea about me shipping other pairs or strange couples. This is strictly LuNa, and the rest is just lost inhibition and sporadic behavior! It's Alice in Wonderland, after all! XD Anyways, enjoy! :D

**This fic is dedicated to Surise! Please, cheer up! D:**

**Mad Hatter**

**Part I: The Dream**

Waking with a start, Nami gasped, staring out of the window of the train as buildings and billboards whizzed past. She blinked a few times, not really seeing them as the images of her dreams played through her mind. She was falling asleep during the day more often lately, because she was having trouble sleeping at night. Each time she did, she would have the same sporadic dreams that she could never clearly understand. All she could really remember was this big creepy grin, dark hair and a hat. The dreams seemed to be getting clearer though, and for some reason, this really disturbed and scared her.

When the train screeched to a stop, she sighed and stood up to get off. She headed off habitually, knowing where to go as she flipped through the songs on her iPod, but paused, staring at one in particular. For some reason, she couldn't get this song out of her head. The Dream. She had heard the song once and downloaded it to her iPod. There was something about the song that just entranced her. She had looked up other songs by the artist, In This Moment, and found some other good ones, but this particular one was the one that stuck with her.

Pushing the button on her iPod, the song began to play, and a strange sensation moved all down her body, causing her to shudder. Shaking it off mentally, she continued walking down the sidewalk towards her college with a sigh, letting the song play out in her ears, filling her head with fuzz. Her eyes wandered up towards the clouds in the sky, somehow she managed not to run into anyone on the busy sidewalk. As she walked, she got that light fluttering feeling in her stomach, and she felt as if she were flying.

No.

As if she was falling.

Gasping loudly as she dropped her head, Nami stopped walking as her heart hammered in her chest, and the people walking around her gave her strange looks as they passed, but otherwise, paid her no mind. Taking a few deep breaths, she continued on to class, trying to keep her mind cleared of the fuzz.

"I'm late! So late!"

"Eh?" Nami looked all around for the tiny voice, and on closer inspection, she noticed no one else had noticed the voice. "What?" she whispered, starting to frown as she looked about herself.

Just down a very thin alley, she saw a small creature running away, but her brow twitched when she saw the bouncing white bunny ears, perched just beside his deer antlers. Shaking her head, she blinked her eyes, thinking she might be seeing things, but then watched as the small thing turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

"What – What was that?" she whispered to herself as she looked around, but everyone else was going about their business, not having noticed a thing. Looking back down the thin alley, she stared for a while, but then she shuddered and shook it off and just kept going. She was going to be late herself if she didn't hurry.

Once she was on campus, Nami rushed to her class and took her seat, releasing her breath once she was settled in. She had managed to make it on time, and that was good enough for her.

"Haah!" she breathed out before watching as her college mates began to file in, giving their greetings before their teacher finally made her entrance.

"Welcome to history class," Robin spoke kindly, and all attention turned to her as the students opened up their textbooks and laptops.

Nami prepared her things, looking over her notes and handed in her essay when Robin passed her. As the lesson progressed, she typed in her notes and listened . Then she jumped, when she heard the voice again.

"I'm late! So very late! I must hurry!"

Gasping, she jolted forward, her palms pressing into her desk as she watched that same reindeer/white rabbit run into the room. He ran around in circles beside Robin-sensei's desk before running up the stairs towards her. She gasped again and jumped back, terrified of the little creature. Then she looked around, but no one seemed to even notice him at all.

"I'm going crazy," she whispered, placing her hands over her face, wanting to just ignore the little thing, but he just kept calling.

"I'm late! So late!"

She whimpered, folding her arms onto her desk and burying her face into them. She was so scared. What was going on?

However, suddenly, she saw that grin flash before her eyes, and soon an image of a man wearing a white and black pinstripe suit, a red shirt and a black tie came into view. He also wore a hat upon his head with a card tucked into the red ribbon adorning the straw hat. Slowly, he lifted his head, his grin becoming visible; however, his eyes remained covered by the hat, and his hand came up to touch the brim of the hat.

"_Nami."_

However, everything went black, and she suddenly realized someone was shaking her and calling her name. "Nami-chan? Nami-chan?"

Gasping, she sat up quickly, blinking her eyes before looking up and seeing her teacher frowning down at her. "Nami-chan, are you all right? I've been trying to call to you and even gave you a few shakes, but you would not wake up," she said, her voice showing her concern.

"I-I," Nami stuttered, staring back up at her teacher in confusion before looking around at the other students, all looking concerned. "I'm sorry, Robin-sensei. I hadn't even noticed that I fell asleep. I … I thought I was awake. I could have sworn I was," she said, slowly lowering her head and touching her fingers to her forehead. "My apologies, Robin-sensei, I have not been getting a lot of sleep lately. I won't fall asleep again."

"All right, Nami-chan, but you're sure you're all right?" Robin asked again.

"Yes, Robin-sensei, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern," Nami replied, smiling up at the woman, but then she looked back down at her things.

"All right," Robin replied, moving back down the stairs towards her desk.

Shifting her eyes up to the woman, Nami frowned deeply. When had she fallen asleep? She could have sworn she was awake the entire time. Looking around, she noticed that little white rabbit/reindeer thing was nowhere in sight. Had it all just been a dream? But how was that possible? She hadn't even realized she'd been asleep _to_ dream. What was even real anymore? How would she know if she was asleep and dreaming or awake?

When class was over, she gathered her things and headed out, thinking about the dream she hadn't realized was a dream. She had heard her name being called, that first time, but the voice had not been her teacher's. It was an unfamiliar voice, one she had never heard before. Placing her hand to her forehead, she rubbed it and closed her eyes. What was happening to her?

Sighing deeply, she looked up again and shook her head. It didn't matter. She needed to focus. Her next class was soon, and she barely had the time to get some lunch before it started. Hancock-sensei was a stickler for lateness.

"Yo, Nami!"

Looking over, she smiled back at Usopp, a freshman, like her, that she helped tutor for a little extra money, as they passed each other and greeted him in turn. "Hey, Usopp," she called as she continued on. As she made her way down the hall, she frowned at the sophomore, his mossy green hair showing over the coat over his head, completely out cold on a bench in the hall. She could swear that she always saw him asleep in different places all across the campus.

"Zoro, you shouldn't be sleeping there!" Franky-sensei, the shop teacher, called, cutting across her to get to the sophomore, and Nami smiled as she passed.

"I'm late! I'm so late! I must hurry!"

Gasping and stiffening, Nami froze in place, the other students walking passed her and speaking to one another, and more even greeted her. So why? Why was she hearing that voice again? She was too scared to look. Was she dreaming again? No, it felt so real; it all felt so real. She had to be awake. So then why? Finally, she turned around slowly, watching as the little thing whizzed in and out of the crowd, and it was headed right for her.

Her heart slammed into her chest before it started to beat rapidly. No one saw it! Why was it only her? When it came closer, she moved away from it, bumping into a few people. "Stay away," she heard herself whisper.

"Ah, Nami-san? Are you all right?"

"Nami-chan?"

She ignored the people calling to her, just taking steps back as the little reindeer with the white rabbit ears ran towards her. "Stop," she whispered, feeling as her face grew cold as the blood drained from it.

However, it only ran past her, yelling, "I'm so late!"

"_Nami."_

There was that voice again. He was calling to her. What did he want? Why was he calling her? Why was she seeing these things, hearing these things? Just as she thought this, that same grin flashed before her eyes, and he lifted his head, revealing a scar just under the brim of the hat, which was still concealing his eyes from view.

"Nami-san!"

Gasping, Nami's eyes flew open, and she realized she was lying on the ground-No, someone was holding her. Blinking her eyes to clear them, she looked around her, noticing a few faces looking down at her before her eyes met with the face holding her. "S-Sanji-kun?" she questioned, looking more and more confused. "What – What happened?"

"You just collapsed, Nami-san. Are you all right?" Sanji asked, looking down at her in some concern.

"I-I'm fine. I'll be fine," she said, pushing herself up, and he helped her get to her feet. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, refusing to glance at the other students. She headed off then, towards the cafeteria to hurry up and eat and head over to her next class.

Unfortunately, after she hurriedly ate her lunch, she still arrived to class late. "You're three minutes late, girl."

"I'm sorry, Hancock-sensei," Nami muttered with a sigh as she went to take her seat.

"Perhaps you want another essay to write, seeing as you like to keep the time to yourself," Hancock said, giving Nami a glare as she passed.

"No, I - I wasn't feeling well. I'll try not to be late next time," Nami said, giving a frown. She could swear that Hancock-sensei had it out for her.

Tilting her chin far into the air, Hancock regarded her down the length of her nose and said, "I sure hope not, girl! You've wasted _mine_ by coming in late, and in forcing me to say so to you!"

"I'm sorry, Hancock-sensei," Nami muttered with another sigh as she got her things out.

xxxx

After her class—during which she'd surprisingly not once heard that voice again—she headed outside to wait for her next class to start. She had about forty-five minutes to waste, or rather, to study, until it started. She headed for the lawns to sit under a tree, since the day was so nice. However, she heard a noise and looked to the side. Seeing a large hole, dug out of the lawn, she quirked a brow. It had the yellow tape and orange cones to ward off curious people. Was there construction going on? Was it a broken main?

However, the noise came again, and she saw a bit of dirt fly out from the hole, but what came next made her stiffen. "I'm so late! I must hurry! So late already!"

"No," she whispered, but her feet began to move on their own towards the hole, and the closer she got, the more into the hole she could see.

Soon, the little reindeer rabbit came into view, and he was digging a deeper hole in the already big hole. More dirt was thrown out as he kept digging, and soon, he dug up a small door. Opening the door, he stepped inside, crying, "So late," and then closed it right behind him.

She could only stare down at the tiny door that only he could possibly fit into. However, soon, she felt dizzy, a hand flying to her forehead. "Oh," she exclaimed quietly as she swayed. "What?" she whispered, turning slightly away from the hole, and before she knew it, she was falling backwards into it. Darkness crept into the sides of her eyes as she fell, and she expected at any second to hit the bottom of the hole, but it never came. She just kept falling and falling, the opening getting smaller and smaller. She tried to speak, but no words came from her lips.

"_Nami_."

It was the voice again, calling to her. What did he want? Why was he calling to her, and why was she going to him? What? Was she going to him?

"_Nami, come to me_."

She gasped softly, opening her eyes again to the darkness, only it was no longer dark. There was light, and strange things floating around her. "What?" She looked all around her, more and more confused and definitely much more scared.

Where was she? Why was she falling? Was she dreaming again? Why was this happening to her? So many questions, but no answers to go with them. Looking down, she noticed that she was descending onto a grassy lawn, and now there was a blue sky and clouds. Was it her college grounds?

However, she landed softly on the grass, and when she looked about, she noticed she was on a ship. "A ship?" she whispered, looking about at the massive expanse of ocean surrounding the ship. "Where am I?" she whispered, looking all about before looking up. It wasn't just any ship, it was a pirate ship. Her eyes widened, showing fear now as she stared up at the flag, flickering and waving in the breeze, but then she gasped. The pirate flag … On the head of the skull and crossbones was the same hat she had seen that man wearing.

"I'm so late!"

Gasping, she quickly dropped her gaze, seeing that same reindeer rabbit, running up some stairs. He ran up to a door, opened it, and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Blinking after the tiny creature, she stared at the door in wonder. "What is this place?" she whispered, but then she frowned and stood up. "Well, there's no use in sitting around here," she whispered to herself as she headed for the door.

She took one step at a time slowly, taking the stairs to the deck above before just as slowly making her way to the door. Reaching out for the knob, she turned it before pulling it open. However, she gasped, taking a step back and tripping as she fell back onto her backside. In the doorway was a huge grin, but no body. "Wha-Wha-Wha-!?" she exclaimed, her tawny eyes opening as far as she could manage.

The grin began to chuckle and soon a body joined the grin, revealing that he wore a brown suit, and he smiled down at her. "Why, hello, you must be new here," he said, tilting his head to her as his pointed and furry ear twitched, and a tail came up to rub under his unnaturally long nose, the bell on his oversized red bowtie jangling as he moved.

She knew that face! "U-U-Usopp!" she cried, gaping up at him.

"Ah, you know my name?" he asked, tilting his head to the other side as he suddenly lifted up both legs to cross under him, though he remained in the air as his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh, well," she started, a little confused that _he_ didn't know her. "I – I was – I mean," she stuttered, not sure how to reply to him.

"Ah, well, that's okay. I'm Chesire Cat Usopp!" he exclaimed, giving her his grin again.

"Ch-Chesire Cat?" she said, blinking up at him, but now that he mentioned it, he did have cat ears and a tail. "Aah!" she cried, bringing an arm up as if she could block him, and then she pointed and cried, "You're floating!"

"Ah, really?" he asked, bending all the way down to look under himself and said, "Oh, I suppose I am." Then he moved all the way under himself, doing a flip. Coming back up, he just grinned down at her. However, he then brought up a hand, looking down at the claws there, making her shudder visibly and move back. "So, what brings you here?" he asked, still inspecting his long claws.

"I-Well, I don't even know how I got here?" she asked, still nervously staring at his threatening claws.

"Oh?" he asked, looking back down at her again. "Hmm, that's strange," he said, rubbing his chin with his tail as he stared off towards the sea, but then he perked, his tail shooting straight up. "Oh, look! An island!"

"What?" she said, turning to look, and sure enough, the ship was approaching an island. "A-An island," she whispered before turning back to him, "What island is th-Ah!" she exclaimed, looking all around, but he was nowhere in sight. "U-Usopp!" she cried, but there was no answer.

Frowning deeply, she then stood up, looking towards the harbor, which the ship was automatically docking at. Sighing, she decided to go into the town, and possibly find some answers. Climbing off the ship, with only a little trouble, she faced the bustling town and bit her lip. Taking small steps, she looked around at all the different people and different things. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. There were small shops, meat markets, produce markets and clothing shops, but the design and architecture was so different. It was nothing like Japan.

"Wow," she whispered, "it's amazing."

"Isn't it?"

Startled by the sudden voice, Nami jumped with a gasp and looked up to see Chesire Cat Usopp, floating beside her. He was lounging mid-air with his arms behind his head and his leg crossed over the other. "Oh, it's you again," she said, just staring up at him, but then she faced forward again. "Where am I?"

"Shouldn't you be asking yourself where you're not?" he asked, grinning widely at her.

"That doesn't make any sense!" she yelled, looking back up at him in some irritation.

"Doesn't it?" he asked, tilting his head. "Are you sure?" he asked, his tail coming up pressing into her throat before pulling back as it slid under her chin and flicked up at the edge of it.

Gasping, she took a step back as her face tinged pink a bit, and then she yelled, "Of course I'm sure! I know where I'm not! I want to know where I am!" However, she then looked towards the town, looking for any indication of where she might be, since he wasn't answering her questions.

"Well, then why not just have a look around?" he said, and when she looked towards him, he was nothing but a grin and eyes.

"I suppose I could," she muttered, giving him a strange look before walking on.

She looked through some of the shops, the ones that interested her, and just looked about the sights of the town. She even went inside some of the shops, especially the clothing ones, and found that they had decently styled clothes. However, she still couldn't help but to think the place was very strange. It was nothing she imagined the real world was like anywhere on the planet. Soon, she found herself at a park and to the side, she noticed a playground. In and around the playground, there were metal mushrooms decorating it, along with the play sets. Sitting atop one of the mushrooms, was the strangest man she had ever seen, and there was smoke billowing around him.

"Who-?" she started, but then grunted, realizing Chesire Cat Usopp was no longer with her, and now that she thought about it, he hadn't been for a long while.

Finding herself curious, she slowly approached the man, sitting atop the largest mushroom. Once she got closer, she almost considered just turning and walking away. However, she couldn't help but to gawk at the strange man. He seemed to be made of metal himself, and his legs extended out before him as he sat, tinkering … with his own body. Was he fixing it? And the smoke billowing out seemed to be coming from his body.

"Uh, excuse me, but … what exactly are you doing?" she asked, arching a brow. Maybe she could ask him where she was too. However, the man completely ignored her. Pursing her lips, she then asked, "Could you please tell me where I am?"

After awhile, the man finally lifted his head to look at her, and then a finger came up to push the sunglasses he wore out of his eyes. "Eeeh?" he exclaimed, his face coming close to hers. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

She blinked up at him before pointing a finger. "Aah! Franky-sensei!"

"Ah? Sensei?" he asked, looking confused, but then he snorted and looked down. "I'm no sensei, but I am Franky The Caterpillar."

Blinking a few times, she accepted this, seeing as Usopp seemed to react in the same way. Then, she looked around them and asked, "Where am I?"

"Grand Line!" he replied curtly before continuing to tinker with his body.

"G-Grand Line?" she asked, looking very confused. "What is that?"

"A place where dreams fly free, little girl," he replied, continuing his work.

"A place where – what?" she asked, looking confused, but then she just sighed. "Look, I'm not from here. Would you know how I could get back home?"

"How would I know, little girl, when I have no idea where you live," he replied with a snort as the smoke continued to puff out, but then it stopped. "Ah! It's fixed!"

She pursed her lips at him again and said, "I'm not a little girl-Ah!" she exclaimed when he hopped off the mushroom as his extra legs retracted in. Was he really wearing a Speedo with that black suit jacket and white button up shirt? He then reached up to readjust his black bowtie.

"Aah, aren't you a little girl?" he asked, looking down the length of his metal nose at her.

"I-I'm not a little girl! Stop calling me that!" she exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips.

"Ah well, the ship is here. You should follow him," he said, walking past her.

"Ah, follow him?" she asked, watching him, but then she started to follow after him. The ship? Was he talking about the one she came in? But who was he talking about? Follow who? Who should she follow?

"Yup," he replied, and that was all he said as he walked out of the park.

Not knowing what else to do, she just followed along behind him, and ended up right back at that same pirate ship. However, she then looked over at him, pondering over his mechanics, and she asked, "So, what happened to you here?" The Franky she knew didn't have all that … metal.

"Mmm, I was hit by a train," he replied, climbing over the side of the ship, and she quickly followed.

"Hit by a train!?" she exclaimed, staring back at him in shock.

"S'right … The Queen of Heart's train," he replied, but he didn't seem to want to give out more than that. He continued on through the ship, went up the stairs, and disappeared into the same door that The White Rabbit went into.

Biting her lip, she stared at that same door, feeling her heart begin to pound, and then she took a step towards it. However, a grin and eyes suddenly appeared into her path, blocking it off. "Ah, you came back," he said with a snicker.

"Aah, Usopp," she said, stumbling back slightly, startled by his sudden appearance. "Oh, well," she started, looking back towards the town, but then back at him, his body having appeared. It looked as if he was sitting on a chair with his leg crossed over the other and his arms folded behind his head again, "it didn't feel as if that place would have the answers I want, and this ship seems like my best bet."

"Of course it didn't," he replied, referring to the town having no answers. "But here, you just might find answers to your questions, and questions to your answers," he said, leaning back some.

"Q-Questions to my … answers?" she asked, looking confused before she frowned. "You're not making sense again."

"Am I not?" he asked, doing a back flip, mid-air with a chuckle.

"No, you're not," she replied, pursing her lips again.

"Hmm, I wonder," he said, but then looked up. "Ah, we are departing again. Shouldn't be too long to the next island," he said, floating towards the front to get a look.

Turning towards him, she frowned before stepping up towards him to look as well. "How long is it to the next island?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Hmm," he hummed before turning to give her a big smile, though his teeth weren't showing, and his eyes were closed, "five minutes?"

"E-Eh?" Five minutes? Really?" she asked, tilting her head. "Are the islands really that close?"

"Mm, are they really?" he asked, looking out again.

"Ah, what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, frowning up at him.

"Hmm, I wonder," he replied to her, which was really starting to irritate her.

Couldn't he just answer her questions? However, at least he answered how long it would take them to get to the next island. As she stood there, staring out at the sea, she felt herself calming down. There was something about it that almost felt nostalgic and calming. Reaching up, she brushed her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear, and then a small smile crossed over her features. What was it about this that made her feel warm inside? And the breeze was so nice.

After awhile, she started to look around at the ship, but soon, she turned towards the door, where both The White Rabbit and Caterpillar had disappeared into, and then she asked, "What's in there?" She also remembered that it had been the door he had come out of.

"I wonder," he replied again, making her head snap towards him with a frown. She was about to speak, but then he suddenly said, "Perhaps the answers to your questions, or more questions, but maybe even the questions to your answers."

"Why do you keep saying that? What does that even mean?" she asked, frowning again, but to her irritation, he just shrugged, looking far too carefree.

"Who knows?" he said with a deep chuckle. However, he then faced forward before she could speak again and said, "Ah, look, the next island is coming into view."

"Eh?" she questioned, looking over to see the island far in the distance, though they were approaching it fast. She was almost sad that the ship would stop soon. She rather liked the feel of it all. There was a tranquility about it that set her mind at ease. "Well, I guess I will explore this one too. I can't say I'm not curious. There was a lot of interesting things last stop. If I'm going to be in this strange place, I might as well get a look around at it," she said with a sigh.

"That's a very positive outlook!" he exclaimed, giving her his grin.

"I guess," she said with a shrug, waiting for the ship to dock before approaching the rail. "Just don't leave without me," she said, pouting at him as she started to climb down.

"I wouldn't dream of it~!" he said with a chuckle, and when she turned, he was gone.

"Hmph," she huffed before getting off the ship and walking through the town.

Looking around, she noticed there was a difference between this town and the last. This town was a lot nice, the shops bigger, and the people much more pleasant. Walking into a shop filled with fashionable clothes, though different from what she was used to, she smiled brightly and moved in to look through them.

"Have you heard? The Mad Hatter just docked."

"Eh?" Nami whispered, looking over towards the two women gossiping.

"But I hear he never leaves his ship," the other woman whispered with a smile and a chuckle.

"I heard it was rare that he did," the first said.

"I would like to see him. Getting a glimpse is most rare indeed," the other said.

"The Mad Hatter?" Nami whispered, staring back at the women, but then she turned towards the exit, wondering if they were referring to the ship she just left.

After all, the emblem on the flag had been a skull and crossbones, wearing a hat. Her eyes widened as a flash of the hat, grin wearing man came into her mind. Was he really on that ship? If he was the one calling to her, why hadn't he come out to see her? Did he know she was there? Then again, come to think of it, The Chesire Cat Usopp had suddenly appeared, stopping her from going inside. Why had he stopped her? Was he really preventing her from going inside? And when she asked him about it, he had seemed dodgy. Was she just looking too much into it?

After awhile, she took a step towards the exit and then another, before she found herself leaving it and heading back to the ship. In all honesty, she wanted to meet this Mad Hatter. She had quite a bit of questions for him. Why had he brought her there? Why her? Why didn't he speak to her right away? What was this place? _How_ did she get there? So many questions, she had so many questions.

"Ah, did you not have fun?"

Halting in her step, Nami looked over to see the Cheshire Cat's grin and closed eyes as it floated within an alley. "Ah, well," she started, glancing towards the harbor, "no, it's not that, really."

"Ah, then what is it?" he asked, opening his eyes to regard her, and even his body became visible.

"Um, well," she started again, wondering if it would be okay to tell him, "I was-"

However, he interrupted her. "Why not come this way?" he asked, starting to float down the alley.

"Ah?" Nami questioned, watching after him before giving the harbor one more glance. However, she sighed before turning back to follow him. They came out of the other side, and Nami glanced around at the other buildings surrounding them.

"Ah, then you have arrived," a soft voice came, and Nami gasped and stiffened. She recognized that voice.

Turning around, she saw Robin, sitting on a bench, smiling up at them kindly and wearing an elegant and beautiful, dark purple ball gown. "Yes, that's right," Usopp replied, giving a big, catty grin as he floated over and lounged on the bench beside the woman.

Without looking, the woman reached out, petting over The Chesire Cat's ears, and he relaxed beside her, beginning to purr as his cheeks puffed out more cat-like with his head resting on her leg. "Ah-Ah-Ah!" Nami exclaimed, pointing towards the woman in shock. "R-R-Robin-sensei!"

"Mm, sensei?" Robin questioned, keeping her kind smile. "I am Nico "The Duchess" Robin."

"Ah, right," Nami replied with a nervous chuckle.

Robin's smile widened as she closed her eyes and chuckled. However, she then looked down at Usopp, whose tail was swishing slowly to and fro, and said, "Shall we then?"

"Of course!" Usopp exclaimed, popping up suddenly and hovering in place with a grin on his face.

"I would like to walk a bit in town first though," she said, looking over towards Nami. "Shall we?" she asked, giving her kind smile again.

"Oh, sure, I guess," Nami replied, waiting for the woman to pass before following after her.

"Do you like it here?" Robin asked as they walked through the streets.

"Oh, well, I … I haven't really explored it all that much yet," Nami replied, looking about the town, "but it is nice."

"Ee, I really like it here. When I come here, it makes me relax," Robin replied with a soft smile.

When she came there? What did she mean by that? "Where are you from?" Nami asked, and the woman turned her smile to her.

"Not too far, I guess," she replied with a chuckle as she turned away, though her answer only confused Nami.

"I-I see?" she replied, though she really didn't and her answer came out in more of a question. Why did they always speak so confusingly?

They ended up visiting a few shops, and Nami found she quite enjoyed herself and Robin's company. They hadn't really talked about anything important, mostly about the clothes and things they saw, but it was still very pleasant. She wasn't sure how long they remained out in the town, but eventually, Robin said, "Perhaps now, we should return."

"Eh?" Nami questioned, but Robin headed off, and so, she followed her. Before she knew it, they were right back at the same pirate ship.

Suddenly, The Chesire Cat Usopp returned, grinning down at Robin. "Need a hand?" he asked, holding his hand out to Robin.

"Yes, thank you," she said, placing her hand within his with a smile, holding her gown with the other.

The Chesire Cat then scooped her up easily and jumped up to the railing above. "Hup~!" he exclaimed, landing up on the rail before setting her down.

Nami blinked, but then pursed her lips up at him. Why didn't he offer to help her, even if she wasn't wearing a huge ball gown? With a heavy sigh, she began the climb up to the deck above. Once she was up top, Robin turned her warm and kind smile back to her and said, "Come and sit with me."

"Sit with you?" Nami asked, and Robin motioned to two lounge chairs, already set up for them. "Oh," she said with a blink, "I suppose I could."

Both women walked over to the chairs and each took a seat. There was a comfortable silence between them, and Nami felt herself relaxing once again to the gentle sway of the ship over the waves. However, soon, the ship began to set sail again, and after awhile, she started to smile. She felt so free there. No real worries and she felt so relaxed. Her school and work were millions of miles away in her thoughts, just accepting that she were there in that place. Closing her eyes, she took a very deep and relaxing breath.

Looking over towards Nami, a smile creased over Robin's lips, and then she looked over towards Usopp, who had his own catty grin and chuckled, and then he slowly vanished. Robin gave a soft chuckle, and Nami opened her eyes to look over to her. "Eh? What is it?" she asked, sitting up a little.

"I was just thinking … that things are about to get interesting," Robin replied quietly, smiling off to the horizon.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Nami asked, but Robin only continued smiling at the horizon. With a sigh, only mildly irritated, she sat back again and let her eyes slide shut. However, after a moment, that grin flashed before her eyes, and that same voice whispered into her head.

"_Nami."_

Gasping softly, her eyes shot open, and she sat up, quickly looking over towards Robin. "Aah!" she cried, for the woman was no longer there. "What-Where?" she asked, looking all around her, but there was no one there at all. "What's going on?" she whispered as she stood up, but then she came face to face with that same door, up on the second level.

With a frown on her face, she sighed, and instead of taking her time, she took off for the second level, ready for her questions to be answered. She went straight to the door and threw it open. She took a step inside, but froze. That same man in her dreams … was sitting just a few feet away. That same hat adorned his head, which covered his face from view.

Slowly, very slowly, he lifted his head to look up at her with that grin on his face.

**To Be Continued …**

**Author's Note: **Bahahaha! I know, you all hate me for cutting it off right there. I'm already working on part 2, so don't get all tied up in knots! DX I want to give my thanks to Darth Hawk 32 for helping me out a great deal with this fic. He was kind of my guinea pig! DX However, he was patient with my persistence to wanting to show him scenes to see what he thought! XP I wanted this fic to be good, because it's important to me! DX Not sure why, but I do really hope that you guys enjoy it all the way through! XD I also hope that you enjoyed the first part so far! Thanks so much for reading! :D Ja ne~!


	2. Part II: The Mad Hatter

**Author's Note: **I know, it took me a long time to come out with the second part, and it will most likely take me just as long to come out with the third. I'm also working on the last chapter for _Forbidden Love_, at the request of Dart. I had just a little extra time, seeing as I finished the rough draft for book 1 of our book series. I had to edit book 2 and combine it with 1! DX However, right now, I'm in Iowa with Ara, so we're going to be working again. We've a timeline to make! X3 So, it will be awhile before I come out with something again. DX Enjoy it while you can! DX And I really do hope you guys enjoy this chapter! XD

**Mad Hatter**

**Part II: The Mad Hatter**

Gasping suddenly, Nami took a step back away from the strange man with the hat. She could actually see his whole face. There was something about it, something nostalgic about his face. "Y-Y-You," she whispered under her breath, just staring back at him.

"You came … Nami," he replied in a low voice, and she shuddered. It wasn't just a voice in her head. She could see his lips moving to each word he spoke, and hear them so clearing.

"Yohohohoho! This is wonderful~!"

Blinking to the other voice, Nami looked over and cried out, "Aaah!" Her arms came up to shield herself, her eyes bulging out to the black suit and blue cravat wearing skeleton seated beside the man with the hat. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that both were seated and lounging upon another man, who seemed to be sleeping. There was a bubble, growing and sinking in size to each breath he took.

However, suddenly, he groaned in question to the voices as his eyes slowly opened, and Nami blinked twice to one of his big, round, mossy green fur colored mousy ears twitching and the bubble coming from his nostril popped, "Aah?" However, he then realized that someone was sitting on his back, and his brow twitched as a vein popped onto his forehead. "Luffy, Brook … get off of me," he growled as he sat up, affectively knocking to two men off from him.

"Uwah!" Luffy exclaimed as he fell over backwards, disappearing from sight as he hit the ground behind Zoro, and Brook fell to the side both giving an 'Oomph'.

"Z-Z-Zoro!" Nami cried, staring at the moss color haired man, who still looked sleepy. She had bumped into him a few times, and had even found him sleeping in strange places back on campus.

"Ah?" Zoro questioned again, blinking sleepily back at her, but then he lifted a finger and said, "You."

However, suddenly both Brook and Luffy bolted to their feet. "Oi, Zoro!" Luffy cried, and both men grabbed Zoro's shoulders, and then they tried stuffing his head into a tea pot. There was a huge struggle between the three. Luffy was grinning broadly and snickering, while Brook laughed.

"Yohohohoho!"

"Oi, damn it! Let me go, you punks!" Zoro cried, though his voice was muffled within the teapot, and suddenly, a thin, mousy tail came up and wrapped itself around Luffy's throat.

"Guwah!" Luffy exclaimed, grabbing the tail and releasing Zoro, who was able to push Brook off and pull his head out.

"You bastard, Luffy! I'm gonna cut you down!" Zoro cried, pulling out a sword, which three were strapped to his side.

"Hooo~! Go ahead and try it!" Luffy exclaimed with a smirk as he leapt onto the table, causing a mess of the teacups and plates that were spread out about it.

It was absolute chaos. "This is crazy," Nami whispered, just gaping at them, but then she heard a squeal.

"What are you guys doing!?"

"E-Eh?" Nami questioned and gaped back at the little White Rabbit, whose jaw was dropped as he watched the fight unfold. "I-It's you," she said, and the little White Rabbit looked over to her.

"Oh, you again," he said, seeming to calm down despite the chaos. "I'm Tony Tony "The White Rabbit" Chopper. It's nice to meet you," he said, giving a bow. Just like the others, even the little rabbit, reindeer creature wore a little suit, which looked very cute on him. Even Zoro was wearing a suit, though his tie hung loosely around his neck, and the first couple of top buttons were undone.

"Y-You said before … that you were late … What were you late for?" she asked.

"Oh, that," he said, waving a hand before pointing towards Luffy. "He needed a band aid, because Zoro cut him."

"A – A band aid?" Nami asked, her expression blank as she stared back at the thing, which was starting to show some discomfort that she was staring back at him so hard. He then slowly hid backwards behind the table. "Backwards," she muttered with a blink.

"Ah!" he exclaimed before switching sides, still peeping an eye out to watch her.

However, a louder commotion than the previous commotion made Nami gasp and jump as she turned towards the three men, fighting. Luffy had slammed Zoro down and pinned him to the table, with a foot pressed into his back. "You can't beat me!" he exclaimed, but then Zoro just promptly fell asleep like that. "Aah, don't fall asleep on me, you bastard!" Luffy yelled, pulling him up and facing him towards him to give him a few shakes.

Zoro shoved him away with a scowl, and Luffy fell back to the ground and out of sight behind the table. "Get off me!" Zoro exclaimed before turning back to Nami, his gaze narrowing. "Hmm?" he hummed, staring back at her.

"Hah!" she exclaimed, becoming nervous as she took a step back and her hand came up to under her chin. "Wha-Wha-What are you looking at me for?" she asked in a nervous stutter.

Suddenly, he bolted across the table towards her, and then pressed the tip of his saya up into her chin. She yelped with a squeal, feeling cold fear as she kept her large, tawny eyes on him. He then began to pull back on the saya, forcing her to take steps towards him, and then he leaned forward, bringing his face close to hers with a smirk. "What brings you here?" he asked in a low, amused face as his smirk widened.

Breathing heavily in her fear of him, she could only just stare back at him. This was definitely not the Zoro she remembered from college. "I-I-I-I," she stuttered, not being able to form a coherent word, much less a sentence.

Suddenly, the same mossy colored mouse tail came up, moving towards her face, causing her to stiffen further, and then, suddenly, it flicked to push her hair from her face. Then he removed his saya from under her chin to use to caress down her face as he said, his voice deep and quiet, "What's wrong? Answer me. What brings you here?" However, then he said, "Maybe if I introduce myself first," his face came a little closer to hers, forcing a blush to blossom onto her face, "you might answer me. I'm Roronoa "The Dormouse" Zoro. Now … answer my question," he whispered.

"I-I was – I-I don't," she stuttered, still not able to form a sentence.

"Oi, Zoro, you bastard!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed, jumping onto the table in a crouch and swiping a leg out to trip Zoro, but the man had leapt up off the table and flipped over Nami to behind her. He then returned his sword back into its saya, before replacing both back with his other two swords.

Turning around, he had a large smirk on his face as he looked back towards Luffy. "It's what you get for sitting on me while I napped," he said before moving back into the room and plopping down on a couch, almost instantly falling back asleep.

Giving a snort to say he didn't give a shit, Luffy then turned his attention back to her, his gaze even, though his eyes were a little less than half closed, and the rest of his face was just blank. However, he suddenly stood, walking across the table, kicking the contents off before jumping off and landing in front of her. "Welcome, Nami … to my Wonderland," he said, suddenly bowing to her, "a place where you can relax and just have fun." He straightened then, grinning back at her widely.

"Y-You're Wonderland?" she asked in a quiet whisper, still staring back at him.

"That's right, _my_ Wonderland," he replied with a snicker.

"Okay, well I guess that answers one of my questions," she replied with a sigh as she rubbed her temple.

"And which question was that?"

"Where the hell am I?" she muttered with a frown. "And now my other question is, how the hell did I get here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" he asked in a low and amused voice as he chuckled low and deep within his throat.

"Obvious?" she replied back, completely unamused.

"Yes, obvious," he replied, smirking back at her knowingly, which made her shudder. She wasn't sure she liked the way he was smiling at her. "You are here," he paused, lifting his chin slightly as his eerie grin grew again, "because I brought you here, Nami."

She gave another shudder, reaching up to rub her arms, but then she asked, "Why?"

"Again, the answer is obvious, and as a matter of fact, I just answered that question," he replied, very amused now as he chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, starting to frown.

"Yup, he totally answered your question. Weren't you listening?" Zoro said sleepily as he yawned, slouching into the cough to nap.

"Answer your question he did. Did you just not hear him?" Nami gasped when a frown suddenly appeared beside her. However, when the rest of the body joined the teeth, she found that he was actually grinning. Only, he was floating upside down beside her.

"Yup, he answered that question already! Perhaps you just weren't paying attention?" Chopper exclaimed with a giggle.

"Yohohohoho! Young lady~! Why do you keep asking questions in which the answers are so obvious!?" Brook exclaimed as he laughed.

"You see?" Usopp replied with a snicker. "There are questions to your answers here as well~!" He then started to laugh as well as the others there.

Nami's lips started to purse, and her irritation was only rising. "Are you all making fun of me!?" she exclaimed, lifting her chin into the air.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Luffy replied quickly before taking her hand and pulling her to the table, roughly shoving her down into a chair. "Sit and have some tea with us."

Nami gasped, gaping in shock at the once destroyed table, which was suddenly neatly set with all the silverware and teaware in place, unbroken. She was sure he had destroyed the entire settings just but a few minutes before. "Oh wow," she breathed out before looking up at him as he sat across from her.

"Hmm?" he questioned, just looking up at her blankly.

"Um, no, nothing," she replied, shaking her head quickly. Was this a normal thing for them?

Brook then stood, calmly taking the teapot into his skeletal hand and poured her some tea before setting it down and sitting again. "Enjoy! Yohohohoho!" he said, lacing his boney fingers together.

"Thanks," she muttered, lifting the cup to sip, surprised to the good flavor. "It's very good."

"Ah, thank you very much~!" Brook exclaimed, bouncing happily.

"Cakes?" Luffy suddenly asked, holding out a plate to her, which was filled up with tiny cakes with decorative icings.

"Oh, thank you," she said, starting to smile now as she took one and took a bite out of it. "Oh, this is delicious."

"Isn't it?" Luffy asked with a grin.

However, suddenly, she threw both the cake and the teacup she was sipping from into the air. "Why the hell am I calmly sipping tea and eating cakes!?" she exclaimed, suddenly looking irritated as she stood up.

"Mah?" Luffy asked with his mouth full of cakes.

"You listen to me, you weirdo," she started, pointing a finger at him, "I don't know what your game is, and I have no idea why you brought me here, but I want you to send me back home, right now!"

Luffy just stared right back at her, his cheeks filled completely with cakes as he chewed slowly, but then he said, "I awweawy to' you why I bwough' you heyaw."

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" she reprimanded, starting to scowl.

Swallowing it all down, he then grinned and said, "I already told you why I brought you here!"

"Right, right, to relax and have fun, but _why_!?" she exclaimed, frowning deeper.

"What do you mean why?" he asked, staring back at her blankly, though he did look confused.

"_Why_ did you bring _me_ here? Why me?" she asked, folding her arms under her bust.

Suddenly, he just grinned and jumped up onto the table. "We should do something fun!" he suddenly exclaimed, seeming to completely ignore her question.

"Yohohohoho! And what is it do you think that we shall do?" the skeleton asked, tilting his head to Luffy.

"Ah-Ah!?" Nami exclaimed again, turning white to the skeleton. She had almost forgotten he was there. He was by far the strangest thing she had seen there.

Suddenly, the skeleton popped a cake into his mouth and sipped his tea. Then he swallowed, lifted a leg, and ripped a good one before burping. "Ah, excuse me," he said before laughing again, "Yohohohoho! Please, pardon my rudeness. I have not introduced myself yet. I am The March Hare Brook," he said, bowing to her, and then suddenly, two brown floppy ears perked out from his afro and flopped to the front, and a big fluffy tail was exposed on his backside as he bowed.

"B-Brook?" she whispered, starting to slowly frown. Where had she heard that name before? And on a second thought, there was something nostalgic about his voice and laugh. "H-How did you … end up like that?"

"Ah, it's a long story," Brook replied while taking in a deep breath, but then he leaned towards her and said, "Young lady, might I ask to see your panties?"

"Hell no!" she yelled, punching him across the face.

"Yohohohoho!"

"Enough with that! Let's go and play!" Luffy exclaimed in irritation before jumping off of the table to stand before her. "Nami, come and play with us!"

"Why should I!?" she exclaimed, moving away from him.

"Because," he whined, starting to pout, "you're supposed to have fun and relax!"

However, just then, the door opened, and in stepped Robin. "Luffy, we've arrived. It's time," she said, smiling at him gently.

"Aah? Really? Already? Hmm, okay," he said, walking over towards the door as Robin turned to leave, and the others got up as well to follow him.

"Wha-What?" she asked, just standing there and watching as they all walked out, leaving her alone. However, she then quickly stepped forward to leave, but then gaped as she got outside. They were all just gone, leaving her completely by herself. "Wha-Wait a minute!" she cried, looking all around her and frowning.

Reaching up, she began to rub over her arms, feeling alone again. At least then, she had been surrounded with people, two or three of which she knew, but now she was alone again. She didn't like the feeling. However, she noticed that the ship had once again docked, and the harbor was a very nice one. As a matter of fact, the entire city was richly built. All of the buildings were beautifully designed, the roads were paved in brick, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. Off into the distance, in the middle of the city, she saw a beautiful castle.

Deciding to find out where they all went, she headed down to the deck and over to the railings. Maybe The Chesire Cat would come back. Making her way off the ship, she then headed into the beautiful and clean city, the people friendly as they greeted her. Her eyes remained on the castle up ahead, and she frowned. It was quite a distance away. Sighing, she decided that's where she would go. Somehow, she knew if she went in the wrong direction, then that cat would come and take her to where she needed to go.

"Aah, it's very far away, isn't it?"

Gasping and jumping, Nami quickly turned to see said cat, floating beside her as he lounged. "Y-You, could you not do that!?" she yelled, her heart still pounding in her chest.

"Ah, my apologies, did I startle you?" he asked, grinning widely.

"Ugh, just forget it," she growled, facing forward again as she continued to walk.

"Are you really going to walk all the way there?"

"What choice do I have?" she exclaimed, pursing her lips. "I can't just mysteriously disappear like all of you seem able to do!"

"Can't you?"

"Don't play those games with me!" she yelled, scowling up at him.

"Hmm, well, if that's the case, why don't I take you there?" he asked, his tail flicking about as his grin widened.

She paused then to look up at him and blink. "You can do that?" she asked, actually looking to him with some awe.

"Of course~!" he replied, reaching out and suddenly snatching up her hand. Then he pulled as he moved up more into the air, taking her with him.

"A-A-A-Aah!" she cried in shock as the paved bricks started to get further and further away the higher up she went. "What are you doing!?" she exclaimed as her fear grew.

"I'm taking you," he replied, looking down to grin at her.

He spiraled up for awhile longer before straightening out and shot out right for the castle, with Nami squealing in fear behind him. "You're _flying_!?"

"Ah," he started before looking down, and then he snickered, "I suppose I am!"

"Y-You're all really starting to get on my nerves, you know!" she screeched, trying hard not to burst into tears. He wouldn't drop her, right?

However, he merely snickered as he continued on towards the castle. Once they reached the courtyard, he set her down carefully, but remained floating in place. "Here we are!" he exclaimed, snickering again.

"Oh, it's very beautiful here," she replied in an awed whisper as she looked at all the beautiful flowers and plants, but then she looked up towards the looming castle itself and bit her lip. She took a step, heading towards the castle. For some reason, she had a feeling she needed to go there, and now The Chesire Cat had brought her there. Turning, she said, "Thank y-" but he was no longer there. "Of course," she muttered with a sigh and just continued on.

She let her eyes drink in the beauty of the courtyard before coming up to the large door. Raking her teeth across her lower lip, she then reached up and knocked. After a moment, the door just creaked open, but then she blinked.

"My lady, right this way."

"Uh," she started before quirking a brow, "right," she muttered as she stepped inside, eyeing The White Rabbit Chopper. "Where is everyone else?"

"Please, right this way," he continued, ignoring her completely as he started walking down the hall.

"This is just ridiculous," she whispered under her breath, but she followed The White Rabbit anyway.

They walked through the long carpeted entry way, and then they came to another set of double doors. He pushed them open, and then bowed to her for her to enter. She rolled her eyes, and stepped inside, but then she froze. "What is this?" she whispered, looking about at all the people, sitting in pews with two large chairs facing them. There was a table set between the two chairs and the pews with a single chair set by the table, which was occupied by a man.

Taking a tentative step forward, she began to walk down the single aisle between the pews. Suddenly, the white rabbit appeared again, sucked in a breath, and announced loudly, "I bring to you … the King and Queen of Hearts!"

"King and Queen of Hearts?" she whispered, but then she took a seat in one of the rows, which happened to be empty.

A door opened towards the back behind the two large, now what she realized were thrones, and in stepped a woman with her head held high, and behind her, an idiot of a man, with hearts in his eyes, and Nami's head dropped. He was the King of Hearts all right. "Sanji-kun," she muttered under her breath with a groan. However, she then looked up towards the woman. Oh so high a mighty, "Hancock-sensei?" she muttered, her eyes widening slightly.

"Aah, my queen, please have a seat~!" Sanji exclaimed, wriggling in place as the hearts in his eyes pumped and his nostrils flared.

"Do not touch me, you lowly man!" she declared in a booming voice as she leaned all the way back to give him a serious look down and pointed a finger at him.

"Aah, I wouldn't dream of it, my dear~!" Sanji exclaimed, but then she took her seat, and he by her side.

Hancock seemed to regard the crowd, her chin held high, but then her eyes fell upon the single man, seated at the table before her. "You, Knave of Hearts shall pay for your crimes against me!" she suddenly exclaimed, her head tilting back as she pointed a finger at him.

The man merely smirked back at her and chuckled, lazily lounging in the chair with very bad poise. He wore a black suit with on an ankle resting on his opposite leg, completely slouched. Even though he was wearing a suit, he was wearing it incorrectly. The suit jacket and the black button up shirt he wore underneath were both unbuttoned and wide open, baring his hard and muscular chest. Around his neck, he wore a black neck tie, hung very loosely around his neck, decorated with flaming spades, and atop his head, rested a hat with two emblems on it, a smiley face and a frowning face.

"Listen, lady, I told you, you've got the wrong guy. I ain't the Knave of Hearts. I'm the Ace of Spades," the man replied lazily to her.

"Silence, you shit for brains! Do not speak to my queen in such a way!" Sanji exclaimed, his eyes erupting into flames as he pointed down at Ace.

"You made off with my tarts, ate them all you did!" Hancock exclaimed, placing a hand to her forehead as she swooned back into her chair. "I was looking forward to them~!"

"How do you plea, Knave!"

"I told you, you got the wrong guy! I'm Ace!" Ace exclaimed, looking more and more amused.

"What the hell is this?" Nami whispered, looking all around to the other people, who just seemed to me staring ahead, even Robin, Franky, Brook, and Usopp, though Zoro was snoring soundlessly in a pew behind them.

"We have the evidence that it was you!" Hancock exclaimed, pointing to him again.

Suddenly, Chopper reappeared, carrying a tray with a tart set atop it, and he took it straight to Sanji, who took the tray from him. "The King of Hearts will now explain how to make a tart!" Chopper announced before walking off again.

Clearing his throat, Sanji then went into an elaborate and ridiculous explanation of how to make tarts, a lot of which was mostly flirtatious talk to the Queen of Hearts and a lot of nonsense. The Knave of Hearts, or the Ace of Spades, whichever he was, instantly conked out, snoring rather loudly as a snot bubble protruded from his nose. However, the bubble suddenly popped, and he sat up, scratching his chest as he blinked sleepily.

However, upon spying the tart, he woke up instantly and sat up. "Oi, are you going to eat that? I'm still starving," he said, pointing towards the tart. "Those other tarts I ate did nothing for me."

"Ah? Oh, no," Sanji replied, moving forward to place the tart in front of Ace, who immediately began to eat it.

"What the hell?" Nami whispered, watching incredulously.

"I now call to witness, Monkey "The Mad Hatter" Luffy!" Chopper suddenly announced, and the back doors opened as Luffy stepped in, walking up the aisle and passed Nami.

However, when he spotted Ace eating the tart, he immediately stopped. "Aah! I want some too, Ace!" he cried, rushing over to attempt to take the tart away from the bare-chested man, but Ace immediately lifted up the tart and moved it away while shoving a hand in Luffy's face.

"No way, Wuffy! The tawt is mine!" he exclaimed with a full mouth.

"Aah, L-Luffy," Hancock called, her demeanor suddenly shifting to shy and quiet as she pressed her knuckles to her lips and looked away with a flush. However, then it instantly shifted again as she turned to Sanji, looking _way_ down at him and pointing her finger at him. "You there, make Luffy as many tarts as he likes!"

"Aah, of course, my beautiful, benevolent queen~!" Sanji exclaimed, his eyes turning to hearts again as he wiggled off towards a kitchen that had most definitely _not_ been there before.

"Woot!" Luffy exclaimed, pumping his fists into the air. "Sanji, tarts!"

"You there," she yelled to Ace, keeping her position with her head bent all the way back, "how dare you deny Luffy what he wants! Off with his head! I find him guilty of stealing my tart! Look there as you eat it!"

"Mm?" Ace questioned, looking to her, but he didn't seem perturbed at all as he shoved Luffy away completely to finish his tart, deciding to ignore the woman.

"Wait a minute! What the hell is all of this? This is all ridiculous!" Nami yelled after bolting up out of her seat.

"Who _dares_ speak to me in such a way?" The Queen of Hearts exclaimed, leaning back again. "_I_ am the _Queen _of _Hearts_!" she declared loudly, looking haughtier and haughtier.

"And you're charging the wrong man for these crimes, and as for that _tart_ he is eating, Sanji-kun _gave_ it to him! He's not the Knave of Hearts. He's the Ace of Spades! Look at his tie!" Nami exclaimed, glaring back at the queen with her arms crossed under her bust, looking just as formidable.

"Ah, thank you," Ace said, smirking at Nami in his amusement and sucking on his fingers before licking the tart plate clean.

But then Nami muttered, "Even though you did just admit to eating them …" However, the man merely shrugged.

"You insolent little bit of a thing! How dare you speak to your queen in such a way!"

"You're not my queen!" Nami yelled, placing her hands on her hips. "You're the idiot accusing this man of stealing your tarts, and you couldn't even get his identity right!"

Luffy released a high pitched whistle, his elbows on the table and his chin in his palms as he watched Nami with a grin. "_How dare you_!" Hancock screeched, throwing her head back further than what seemed natural as she pointed down at her. "Off with her head!"

"H-H-Heeh!?" Nami exclaimed, gaping back towards her in horror as she began to sweat. Maybe she shouldn't have talked back to a queen. Suddenly, huge beasts began to file through every door that was big enough to admit them.

"Aah, it's the Blugori!" someone in the room cried, and Nami quickly turned to them. They were masked and dressed in blue, and on the face of the mask was a skull painted onto it. Each one carried a huge axe, and were all headed right for her. She gasped, taking steps back as she paled, gaping back at them.

"Wa-Wait a minute!" she cried, looking towards the others.

"Iyo!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed, pushing off the table and leaping into the air. He landed right in front of Nami and quickly pulled off his coat and threw it aside before getting into a fighting stance.

Gasping, Nami surged back, tripping onto her own feet and falling into the laps of the people seated on the pews. "Oi!" they cried, trying to push her back up. 

She clung to the back side of the adjacent pew as she gaped at the back of The Mad Hatter. "Ooh, is it fun time already?" Ace said, lifting a leg and kicking the table away from him before jumping to his feet. His hand came up to hold down his hat, which covered his eyes, but then he smirked and chuckled.

Sliding the hand across the brim, he then pushed it up with his finger, which suddenly caught on fire. "Well, then let's have some fun, Luffy!"

"Yosh!" Luffy exclaimed before jumping up and kicking the first Blugori to approach him.

Zoro was suddenly out of his seat, his three swords drawn as he began to cut up any Blugori near him. However, Sanji jumped from the platform with the two thrones, flying right at Zoro as his leg came down for a kick, but the swordsman crossed his swords to block it, each smirking at the other. "Just like old times, Marimo," Sanji growled as his smirk grew.

"Just like old times, Curly Brow," Zoro agreed with a chuckle in amusement before uncrossing his swords to attack, though Sanji was ready to block again.

"What the hell?" Nami whispered, so completely confused as the fighting broke out.

More and more of the Blugori entered the room and more and more people were pulled into the fight. Fire went every which way as the bare-chested man fought his opponents, pews were thrown every which way, and people were screaming or yelling. It was complete chaos.

Nami screamed as a large axe came down over her head, and she pushed herself off from the pew as it was severed to bits. The beast turned to her, raising his axe, and she gaped up at it in terror. Was she really about to die?

However, just then, Luffy came out of nowhere, kicking the beast in the back of the head, and sent it flying across the room and crashing into a few other pews. "Come on, Nami!" he cried, grabbing her hand and pulling her up to her feet with a grin. With a snicker, he then turned and started to run, punching any Blugori that came close, but … did his arm just stretch?

"What is going on!?" she cried, gaping at him, though she continued to run as he kept his hold on her hand.

"What a silly question, Nami!" he called over his shoulder as he laughed. Suddenly, he released a whistle and motioned his arm, and the others quickly followed him.

"Luffy!" Hancock called with a pout, but then she sighed, dropping into her throne.

As they ran through the long halls of the castle, Luffy laughed the whole way as they others ran behind him. "Well, that was definitely fun," Ace suddenly said as he snickered with a smirk.

"Aa, we should do it more often," Luffy replied over his shoulder and just laughed louder.

"I was in the middle of a battle, damn it," Zoro complained, having been pulled away when Luffy had called for him. However, looking over, he noticed Robin having trouble running with her dress, and so he grabbed her wrist and tugged, pulling her over his back.

She chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around his neck to hold on and said, "Thank you."

"It was scary!" The Chesire Cat Usopp exclaimed as he floated beside them, lazily.

"You think everything is scary," Zoro snarled, glaring back at the Cat, who merely gave him a catty smile.

"It was a little scary," the tiny reindeer rabbit said, though he now looked more like a reindeer as he ran on all fours beside them.

"It wasn't scary. It was fun!" Luffy exclaimed, bursting through the doors to the outside. "Iyo!" he exclaimed, jumping up high into the air, his grip tightening around Nami's wrist, who was just listening to all of their nonsense.

However, when she realized he wasn't going back down, she shrieked and grabbed a hold of his arm more tightly. Looking down, she noticed that the others had jumped and were now flying beside him, all spiraling around him and twirling through the air. "Woo!" Luffy exclaimed and the others joined in and laughed as they flew.

"This is all insane, crazy. I'm crazy. I'm going insane," Nami whispered to herself, about to cry from her fear as the ground grew further and further away.

"You're only insane if you believe these things and think you are _not _insane, but if you know these things not to be logical, and think you _are_ insane, are you then only perfectly sane," Robin said, holding on tight to Zoro as she smiled gently to Nami.

"Wait, what?" Nami asked, looking back at her in confusion, but then she suddenly gasped when Luffy suddenly yanked her up and wrapped an arm around her. However, Nami blushed deeply and stiffened to how tightly and close she was pressed to his body. "Um," she started, but she couldn't form a coherent thought, thanks to her discomfort.

"Just hold on, Nami," he replied softly to her as they suddenly broke through the clouds.

Gasping loudly and clinging to him tightly, she looked about, not seeing much of anything except for the fluffy white stuff all around, even the others had disappeared. The only one visible to her … was him. Looking back at him, he was focused and looking up and ahead of him as they soared through the clouds. Suddenly, they broke through the top with the others back again, and then they all just stepped atop the clouds. Luffy set her down, but she gasped and clung back to him.

"It's all right, Nami. Look," he said with a grin, stepping down onto the cloud, which puffed out a little around his sandaled foot, but remained solid beneath him.

Blushing in embarrassment from having clung to him, she quickly pulled back from him, but with the unsteady ground, headed right back down again. She panicked and screamed as she tried to grab for him, thinking she might fall right through and to her death.

"Oi, Nami!" he cried, quickly stepping forward and grabbing her, pulling her to him once again.

Her lips formed into a thin line, the blush worsening, and she refused to look up at him. However, he then just laughed and said, "Relax, Nami. You'll be fine. You won't fall through or anything. It's solid!" he said, pulling away a bit, though he kept her hands in his and started to jump up and down. "You won't fall!"

Pulling her hands from his, she turned away slightly, completely mortified, knowing the others were watching her. She could feel their smirks and hear their snickers. She stepped back before giving them a slight glance and looking away again. However, she then whispered, "I want to go home. Can you just send me home now?"

"I can't do that, Nami."

"Why not!?" she exclaimed, looking back to the scarred man, who was no longer smiling. "You brought me here, didn't you!? Why can't you send me back!? If you couldn't send me back, then why did you bring me here in the first place!?" she cried, tears starting to come to her eyes. She just wanted to go home.

"I've told you why-"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" she cried, glaring back at him. "I'm tired of your riddles and games and nonsense! I want to go home!" she yelled, looking less than pleased.

He wilted then, right before her eyes, and she felt a tug at her heart, feeling a tad guilty for having yelled at him. Then, suddenly, she remembered.

"_Welcome, Nami … to my Wonderland … a place where you can relax and just have fun."_

Swallowing down and taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down. She had no idea _why_ he had chosen her to bring her here, but he had obviously done this _for_ her. He had been trying to help her to relax and to have fun. "I don't know why you chose me, Luffy, and I … I think you meant well, but … I'm not relaxing, and I'm not having fun," she said softly, taking a step towards him.

"You were," he muttered under his breath, but then he sighed, looking up at her again, and then he nodded. "All right, Nami," he replied quietly, but then he suddenly held out his hand to her, "dance with me, and I will send you home. Just this one last thing and I promise."

Flushing gently across her cheeks, her eyes drifted downward to his extended hand, but then she closed her eyes and sighed, extending her own hand to be placed within his. When she opened them, she gasped, looking down and seeing herself wearing the most beautiful and exquisite ball gown she had ever seen, colored in light blue and white. Looking up at him, he was smiling once again as he walked backwards, guiding her further atop the clouds.

Looking around her, she saw that the large cumulus clouds surrounded them, though it was their colors she noticed. So many different colors, purples, pinks, oranges, it was all so beautiful. Just through two clouds, she could see the setting sun, casting the beautiful colors over all the clouds. Looking back at him, her face flushed even further, but then suddenly, he started to move, guiding her into a dance, and as they did, she could hear the music playing.

It was almost as if it was playing in her mind, or as if she was hearing it from some far off place. With its violins, and piano and other instruments, the song was also beautiful, but there was something about it. It was … such a sad melody. They just waltz across the clouds, the others standing in a semi-circle as they just watched. Her heart began to pound in her chest, her body just moving like the flow of water across the clouds with him. It was all so flawless and beautiful, everything about it.

Her heart soared then, and in that moment, she felt truly at peace. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, feeling the thrill rush up her body as they twirled around on the soft cloud, which seemed to make the perfect dance floor, and then very slowly, she began to smile. He had done his job. She felt so relaxed, and despite everything that happened, she really did have fun. It was all so exciting, thrilling, something she knew would never happen to her otherwise, but it did.

Opening her eyes slowly, staring up at the clouds hanging above her head, she then lowered her gaze back to him, and he was just smiling back at her. Her cheeks erupted into color again, but then she asked in a soft and relaxed voice, "Why, Luffy?" She hadn't realized that she said his name, nor had she realized that tears had suddenly begun to form within her eyes. "Why?"

His soft smile merely widened, though she could see something within his eyes that she understood; only she didn't at all. There was sadness there. What did it mean, though she knew exactly what it meant, only she didn't. Nothing and yet everything made sense all at once. She wasn't sure what was going on within her. "How? How did you do this?" she continued to whisper, but he still did not answer her, merely keeping the sad and soft smile.

She only became more and more confused as the tears finally started to fall, and she felt desperate for the answer to the question she didn't know. "Luffy, please, tell me," she whispered, more and more tears falling, but then he very slowly shook his head no. Closing her eyes, causing more tears to fall, she lowered her head, and still, they continued to dance, only slower now. After awhile, she looked up again, and then she whispered, "Luffy … who are you?"

Stopping their dance, he released her hand to bring his hand up to cup her cheek, while moving a little closer to her and wiping away her tears, and then he whispered, "Now that, Nami … is the question."

Sitting up with a gasp, Nami looked around her in confusion, breathing heavily as the tears flowed down her face freely. She was at the bottom of the hole, which had been dug into the ground on campus. Her arms instantly wrapped around herself, and she began to sob heavily, her head lowering further and further down. She drew up her knees, and just sat that way and cried, though for what reason, she had no idea.

"Nami-san!"

Gasping, her head shot up towards the top of the hole, and then a head suddenly appeared over the side. "S-Sanji-kun?" she asked in a rasp, looking confused as she began to remember the dream she had.

"Nami-san, there you are!" he cried, sliding down into the hole and going to her. "You didn't come to class, and some were worried, since you never miss class and didn't leave an explanation why you didn't go. We've been looking for you for awhile now. I was just barely told not but an hour ago, if that."

"Oi, did you find her?" a voice came from above, and another head peered down at them.

"Aa, I found her, Marimo. Give me a hand," Sanji said, helping her to her feet and holding her up for Zoro to take her hand and pull her up and out. Then Zoro reached down and pulled Sanji out of the hole. "Are you all right, Nami-san? You weren't scared or anything?"

"No, I'm fine," she said, feeling sheepish as she wiped away her tears, not wanting to give them the wrong idea, though it was too late for that. She had not been crying about being stuck at the bottom of the hole. "I-I think I just want to go home now. Thank you, Sanji-kun, Zoro," she said before turning and making her way off campus as both men just watched her leave.

xxxx

A week had gone by since she had that strange dream, and since then, she had not had another. She had not slept so well in so long, which made her feel much better and much more energized. However, as she made her way home for the day, she was quite exhausted. Still, she felt really good. With a smile, she boarded the train heading home and took her seat, setting her things down on the empty seat beside her.

"Ah, wait!"

Gasping and stiffening, she stared down at the ground, sure she had heard that voice before. Suddenly, a young man ran onto the train, barely slipping in through the already closing doors and fell down to the floor of the train, making her quickly look up at him. He was panting heavily and grinning widely as he snickered from beating the train. "Yosh, I made it!" he cried before standing up and dusting himself off. The others on the train gave him an odd look, shaking their heads at him.

Nami had even stopped breathing, just staring up at him as he grinned to himself, and then moved to sit down, as if not even realizing she was there. Hadn't it just been a dream? None of it could have been real, and yet, there he sat, wearing the exact same pinstriped suit, straw hat and grin. He had the exact same scar, just below his left eye, and that same card sticking out of his hat. She wasn't dreaming again, was she? Or perhaps she had seen this man before, which was why she had dreamt about him. Perhaps he was a student she had seen in passing.

However, that would _not_ explain why she had had such a dream about him. Though, since when had dreams ever been logical? Dreams were always such a chaotic mess, in which one never had control of the happenings, though there have been special cases. She, for one, was never able to control the flow of her dreams. Did he even really attend the college? There was definitely something nostalgic about him, but at the same time, she was pretty sure she had never seen him before that dream.

After a moment, he turned and immediately met her gaze with his, causing her to gasp, blush and turn away quickly. "Ah?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side in confusion. However, he then looked down at himself and grinned before looking back up at her. "Ah! It's the clothes, right!? Yeah, I know, they are kinda weird. I just came from rehearsal! I swear I'm not weird or anything!" he said before chuckling.

Turning to look at him from the corner of her eyes, she just watched him for awhile before turning completely towards him. "Rehearsal?" she asked quietly.

"Ah, yeah! I'm in a play at the college. Do you go there too? I think I mighta seen you once," he said, looking thoughtful for only a second before grinning at her again. "You should come and see the show! You know, help support us and stuff, if you're a part of the college! Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed, bolting out of his chair and going right towards her, making her gasp and stiffen again.

However, he merely knelt in the chair beside her to look out of the window. "Looka that!" he cried, "There's a new ramen shop, opened up! I can't wait to try it!" He was grinning even wider, drooling at a billboard the train was passing.

Her eyes glanced towards him, but she kept perfectly still. Maybe if she was as still as possible, he might forget she was there. "Yeah, well, anyway," he suddenly said, still staring out of the window, "you really should come to the play and watch. We just did casting a few days ago, and I got the role of The Mad Hatter! I'm really excited! It's a production of Alice in Wonderland!"

"Alice in Wonderland," Nami whispered, slowly starting to frown. How strange. Come to think of it, the dream she had was a lot like Alice in Wonderland. She had actually forgotten about that book. She had only really heard about it, and not read it herself. It was such a coincidence that her college theatre club should be doing such a play. She must have seen or heard it somewhere.

"You know, you really should have joined the theatre club," he suddenly said, though he spoke quietly now, still staring out of the window, but then suddenly, his body shifted, and her eyes moved to the corners towards him, which it appeared he was looking down at her. "You would have been great in the play," he said very quietly now, and she watched from the corners as he leaned towards her, making her suck in her breath and stiffen further to his nearness.

Her eyes widened when she felt his hot breath so close to her ear as she held her own, but then he suddenly whispered into her ear, feeling as his hand clamp down on her shoulder, "You would have made a great Alice … Nami." She gasped loudly with her eyes shooting open wider as his hand clamped tighter onto her shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and an electrical surge that rocked the entire car as the lights flickered and buzz before popping, raining glass over the other occupants. The people on the same car looked over, and the two who had been there were no longer there, and from the spot in which they sat, more electrical currents surged over the seats, leaving them baffled and in shock as the train screeched to a stop.

xxxx

"How do two people just vanish off a train?"

"W-We have no idea, sir …"

"This has to be some kind of joke …"

"But sir, all the witnesses have the exact same story, and the train just suddenly lost power as if someone let off an EMP. Something strange definitely happened."

"Mmm, but what the hell did this guy want with a college student to have pulled off this … trick?" The police captain stared down at the card inside the evidence bag, pondering this mystery. "We gotta find this girl and this strange guy," he muttered before looking to his men. "I want a clue! Find me one! Anything besides just this!" he said, holding up the card. "Let's go!"

"Aye, sir!"

**To Be Continued …**

**Author's Note: **So, did you guys like it? X3 I know, you hate me for this cliffhanger, right? X3 I love writing cliffhangers! I am most definitely evil for this reason, but it's fun receiving all those hateful reviews! BAHAHAHAHA! You have to admit it though, cliffhangers are what keep a reader interested. ;) So, accept it! Cliffhangers will happen! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed! Until next time~!


	3. Part III: Reality No Longer A Wonderland

**Author's Note: **All right, so part III came out longer than was expected and wanted. Oh well … It also took me longer, because I had a lot of things to work out … because it was longer, and because I was busy with other things. Sorry … I also want to thanks Dart for helping me out with this fic. Thank Dart! XD Hope you enjoy, Surise! :D And I hope you guys enjoy the last part as well. :)

**Mad Hatter**

**Part III: The Reality No Longer A Wonderland**

"Sir, the readings are off the charts."

"We have no idea what he's doing in there, but whatever it is, it's big."

"Has he really exceeded this far? Has he really passed our expectations?"

"Sir! Bad news! There's been an incident; a sighting!"

"Damn it! Keep monitoring this! I want to know every little thought he makes!"

"Yes sir! We'll try our best, but we've been suffering from some data errors!"

"Get it fixed then!" 

"Yes sir! Working on it, sir!"

xxxx

Her head hurt, and whatever she was lying on hurt, making her body achy and sore. With a groan, Nami slowly opened her eyes, but shut them again from the bright light, causing her head to hurt even more. It was so cold. Why was it so cold?

"Ah? Is she awake yet?"

"I think so. I thought I heard her."

"I saw her move too. Nami-san? Are you all right?"

"She doesn't look so good."

"Oi, wake up, little girl! We're waiting on you!"

"Oi, oi, you gotta be all mean about it?"

"Ah, such a lovely rose~!"

"You're a douche bag …"

"What'd you say, stick head!"

Groaning again, Nami flinched to the voices, feeling confusion wrapping around her mind. Was she in another dream? Were they all there again? She could distinguish each voice, Usopp, Sanji-kun, Zoro, Robin-sensei, Franky-sensei and even Hancock-sensei. "What … What's going on?" Nami groaned, slowly opening her eyes again, though her vision was blurry. She could vaguely make out the blotches of bodies sitting around her.

"Oi, you all right?" A deep voice asked her, one of the bodies closest to her, Zoro.

"I-I think so," she rasped as she blinked her eyes to clear her vision of the fuzzies. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere in the arctic, we think?" A much gentler voice came, Robin-sensei.

"Arctic?" Nami asked, feeling even more confusion. They were in the real world still? This wasn't a dream? With a gasp, she sat up quickly, but groaned as a hand flew up to her aching head.

"Ah, Nami, don't try to move so fast!" A nasally voice came, Usopp. She looked up, noticing another body moving closer. It must be him.

"What are we doing here? What's going on?" Nami asked, slowly starting to frown with worry.

"He brought us all here, is why," Zoro replied, folding his arms to his chest as he sat back.

"We're in some kind of cave, Nami-san. Here, have some water," Sanji said, and she watched as a blurry arm reached out towards her, and she reached out a little clumsily to take the cup to drink from it greedily.

"After she's able, we should get movin'. It's cold here!" she heard Franky-sensei say.

"Here, Nami-san, we brought a coat for you," Sanji said, wrapping something around her.

"Why are we here? Please tell me what's going on!" Nami cried, starting to lose her patience.

There was a long silence, as they all seemed to look between each other, but then finally, she saw as they turned to her, and Zoro spoke up, "He told us to be ready, and told us what we would need. He also supplied us with a map, though we had to steal it."

"He? What? Who told you this?" she asked, frowning deeper as her vision finally started to clear up.

There was another long silence, which made her anxious before someone finally spoke up, Sanji this time, "Luffy did."

Sucking in her breath, Nami stiffened, her eyes shifting between them all as their faces became clearer. "L-Luffy?" she whispered, looking shocked, but still confused. "B-But how? Why? I don't understand. Wasn't it just a dream?"

"Yup, it was a dream, but I guess it wasn't _just_ a dream. We were all there," Zoro replied, leaning back against the cave wall as he closed his eyes.

"Y-You were all there? That was really you?" she whispered, gaping at all of them in confused amazement.

"That's right," Hancock replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she turned her nose up at her.

Usopp snickered with a grin and said, "We couldn't tell you, of course. Though, Zoro almost gave it all away!"

"Oi, I was still half asleep, okay! Doin' that makes me tired! They didn't have to try shoving my head in a tea pot!" Zoro exclaimed, scowling back at Usopp, who hid behind Franky.

"Luffy made us all promise that we would make you believe you really were in a Wonderland," Robin replied with a gentle smile.

"Luffy, Luffy, Luffy! You all speak about this Luffy as if you all know him, but _how_ do you know him? And what do I have to do with any of this?" Nami exclaimed, losing her shock as she frowned at them again.

"Everything; don't you see?" Zoro asked, opening a single eye. "We all have everything to do with it. Don't you remember?"

"Remember? Remember what?" she asked, frowning deeper, though her features started to soften.

"It took us awhile to remember, but it all came back to us. I guess for you, it might have been a little harder," Sanji said very quietly with his head lowered.

"What are you talking about?" she whispered, feeling a shiver run down her spine. There was something, something in the back of her mind, trying to claw its way out, and it made her feel cold. However, suddenly, she gasped and cried out as her hands came up to clamp over her ears, but no matter what, the screams in her mind continued as she got flashes of a memory long forgotten.

She could see flashes of people running, children, screaming and crying as they ran. Her vision blurred slightly with tears as she tried to see what was going on. It was as if she was seeing through eyes long past. Men wearing masks and armor came into view, holding guns. They were screaming, but she couldn't hear the words very well, but soon, the memory cleared, and it was as if she was back to that day so long ago.

"_Everybody down on the ground now and you won't be harmed! Get down now!"_

She could see people and the children falling to the ground in fear, their arms over their heads. The children were wailing and sobbing loudly, and she could even see some having wet themselves. A museum, they were at a museum, and all the exits were being blocked. There was so much chaos.

"_Nami-san!"_

Someone was calling her name? It sounded like a young boy.

"_Nami-san! Luffy!"_

"_Sanji-kun!"_

It was her voice! Her voice as a small child! Her eyes were wondering around, and finally, they landed on the small blonde boy, his face looking concerned as he attempted to crawl towards her.

"_Nami!"_

Another voice of a small boy, once … Oh, she remembered that voice. Just then, the eyes moved to the side, and a small dark haired boy was running right for her.

"_Luffy!"_

She cried and screamed as the men swooped upon them, her eyes filled with tears as she sobbed.

"_Nami, I'm coming!"_

He was calling to her, and he was running towards her. Her small hand reached out for him, but just then, one of the men in masks scooped him right up. She screamed, a blood curdling scream, more tears falling from her eyes as she reached out to that small boy.

"_Lemme go! Lemme go, damn it! Don't touch me!"_

The boy struggled. He had always been so brave. He elbowed the masked man's head, which caused him to drop him.

"_Luffy!"_

"_Luffy!"_

It was two more familiar voices. The eyes quickly shifted, seeing a small, dark color hair, long nosed boy. He had a sling shot in his hands, which he fired at the man.

"_Gah, what the f-!"_

The man looked confused and stunned to whatever had pegged him hard, leaving room for the other, moss color haired boy to run over, and without fear, he leapt onto the masked man, punching him in the face. His mask was knocked away, and he scowled at both boys.

"_You little brats, get off me!"_

The man threw Zoro off from him and hit Luffy with the butt of his gun, who had also leapt onto him.

"_Aah_!"

Luffy hit the ground and Nami could already see a deep cut on his face, just below his left eye. Blood oozed from the injury, and the boy looked extremely dazed, but suddenly, a young woman appeared, using her body as a shield for Luffy.

"_Don't hurt him! He's just a child!"_

Looking at her carefully, Nami could see her vibrant blue eyes. Robin!

"_Robin!"_

The voice of another young woman. Looking over, Nami saw another dark haired young woman, both looking to be teenagers. Hancock!

"_Get out of the way!"_

The man roughly grabbed Robin, and shoved her away, causing the girl to cry out as she hit the ground.

"_Robin! You barbaric monsters!"_

Hancock ran over, jumping onto the man's back and wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling back.

"_Gah, you little bitch! Let go of me!"_

"_Leave that poor boy alone! And don't hurt her!"_

The man grabbed her from behind and pulled her forward to slam her down onto her back.

"_Oi … don't … hurt … them!"_

Luffy tried to get up onto his feet, his face a deep scowl as he lunged at the man, punching him right on his crotch.

"_Oh you son of a bitch!"_

The man looked to be in pain, but he grabbed Luffy anyway and lifted him up and threw him over his shoulders.

"_I got him! We've already got the other one! He was just as much trouble too! Freckle faced little punk!"_

"_No, Ace!"_

"_Oi, leave the kid alone!"_

There was another voice. Her eyes wondered until they saw another man. Franky-sensei! He looked young, but by the looks of it, he was still a teacher, perhaps at an elementary school, or the high school? Suddenly, he ran forward, grabbing a man's gun and managing to yank it away before hitting him across the face with it. But another gunman ran over, hitting Franky over the head with the butt of his gun, and he dropped, though he groaned, reaching up to grab his head, which was already starting to bleed.

"_Where are you talking that child?"_

Came another, much older voice as a tall, older man with an afro frowned deeply at the armed men, each of these people seemed to have no fear at all.

"_You stay out of our way! Get down!"_

"_What'd you do to Ace?"_

The man pointed his gun towards Franky and the afro man, shifting it between the two. Nami's eyes watched Luffy as he struggled, despite his daze, he was still worried for Ace. Ace, she remembered that name. She remembered Ace, and he had been in her dream. However, it was of the child she remembered, not the man in her dream. And now, staring at this child, she remembered him. They were all in a class together, once upon a time, first grade. Sanji and Zoro were in a class above them, but they were all still friends, seeing as they also lived in the same neighborhood. However, she and Luffy were like best friends, had been since even before school started. He always looked after her, and they always hung out and told each other secrets. However, she then shifted them back to the men.

"_I said get down, old man, if you know what's good for you!"_

She watched as the afro man moved forward, with surprising speed and hit the man's gun with his cane, knocking it from his hand.

"_Let that boy go!"_

However, she screamed and watched in horror as the older man was shot. However, still, the afro man tried to crawl towards them to get to Luffy.

"_Tough old fart … Take him with us! We can't leave any evidence that we were here!"_

It was a new voice, one of another man. She watched as a different man lifted up the old afro wearing man, and they began to leave, shoving Franky-sensei out of the way. Her small voice then cried out, as well as the voices of the others.

"_No, Luffy!"_

"_Luffy!"_

"_Wipe their minds. I don't want them to remember a thing."_

Suddenly, another, creepier man, came forth, who lifted up his hands. And she screamed out again, her eyes shifting and watching in horror as they carried her friend away, but then everything went black.

"Luffy!" Nami cried, her head shooting up, realizing that tears were running down her face as the others, much older now, came into view. Already shaking, she released a sob as her hand came up to block any more from coming forth. However, after awhile of sitting there, completely shocked, her eyes began to focus on the others, who were just watching her. Her hand slowly lowered, and she cried in a strained whisper, "They took him!"

"Yes, they did," Sanji replied quietly with a soft frown.

"And then they all chalked it up as some kind of gas leak. It was all over the news. They made us even forget anyone went missing. They made us completely forget who Luffy was," Zoro replied, and his voice was eerily quiet as he stared down at the cave floor.

"That man," she whispered, starting to frown slowly, "that creepy man-"

"Yeah, we all remember him too," Zoro replied, lifting his eyes slightly.

"He had some sort of ability to erase our memories from our minds," Robin replied softly, "just as Luffy has the ability to bring us into his."

"What have they been doing to him?" Nami whispered, looking angry and shocked and oh so confused. However, then she said, "I remember I was in a coma for awhile. My foster mother told me I was out for a few weeks. We had to move elsewhere for my medical treatments, because she couldn't afford them, and when I came to … I didn't remember any of you." She looked sad as she looked up at them and whispered, "I didn't remember anything, and maybe … I didn't really want to."

"It's understandable. I didn't remember much of anything either," Sanji muttered with a sigh, "but we remained there, and I attended the same school."

"Same here," Zoro muttered, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Another thing though, how did we all end up in the same place?" Usopp asked quietly, scratching his head. "We all happen to attend the same college, and; or teach there."

"Perhaps it was Luffy's influence that we ended up in the same place?" Robin suggested, looking to the others. "He has obviously not forgotten any of us from that day or as childhood friends. Luffy and I have only met once, after all, just that day, the same with Hancock and Franky."

"How many other times had he brought you into his dreams?" Nami asked, looking to each.

They seemed to give each other glances before finally looking back at her. "A few times," Zoro finally replied with a shrug.

"But," Nami started, looking confused now, "why didn't he come to me before? Why did he only bring me that one time?"

"We don't really know. We all pretty much remembered right away after he came to us, but you," Sanji started, looking down again, "it was as if you didn't want to remember him. He said he showed himself to you a few times, but you did not remember him. So, he decided to wait on you, waiting for you to be ready to see him again. For whatever reason, it was just harder for you to accept."

Not being able to help herself, Nami's face scrunched up as the tears worsened and fell. She released a soft sob as she lowered her head. It hurt so much, all of it. It was like she rejected him. Was he hurt by that? Did it hurt him that she hadn't remembered him? He was her closest friend, and remembering that he had gone missing all those years ago, it all hurt so much.

"Luffy," she cried softly as her hand came up to rub the tears from her eyes. She was quiet for awhile as she grieved for her lost friend, but then finally, she calmed down and looked up at them. "What do we do?"

Finally, the others smiled, and Sanji moved closer to show her the map. "This is the map of the facility. Luffy was sure that if anyone could make heads or tails of it, it was you, Nami-san," he said, smiling at her softly.

Biting her lip, Nami looked over the map before smiling and nodding. "I can," she said, pointing to a certain point, "and I think we'll be able to get into the place from here. They will most likely have cameras and a security system, but being way out here in the arctic, I doubt it's all that secure. We should be able to take it all down to sneak in. But first, we need to find this facility."

"Already done," Franky said with a smirk. "We went out scoutin' earlier, though Zoro almost got us lost …"

"I didn't get us lost!"

"Good, at least we know where it's at," Nami said, ignoring Zoro, who grumbled. "We just need to find the security box. How did Luffy get these things anyway?"

"He stole them, but he said he had help from the inside. Luffy has the ability to transfer items through his dreams," Zoro replied, looking amazed still.

Nami looked up at him, and then the others. "That's amazing," she whispered, and the others nodded in agreement. "Anyways," she started, looking down again, "I think this box here," she said, pointing to something on the map, "might be the security box. Let's get to it and bust them out of there." Looking up at the others, she smiled, and each smiled and nodded in return.

Getting their supplies together, all compliments of Luffy, they bundled up in the jackets and snow pants and headed out into the cold. "Fucking cold here," Zoro muttered in complaint as they trekked towards the facility.

"Suck it up, Marimo," Sanji retorted, and the verbal insults ensued.

Ignoring them, Nami stared at the map as she walked, looking over each room carefully, trying to figure out which room he would be kept in. "That one," she whispered to herself, staring at a particular room. It has to be that one. "It's the same as the castle in the dream."

"Did you say something, Nami-chan?"

"I just realized, Luffy was telling me where he was in the dream," she said, looking up at Robin in amazement. "This map, I remember things from the castle, certain doors and things, it was all set up exactly like the facility. The throne room, it's where Luffy and Ace are!" she said, starting to smile wider. "I think Luffy knew I would make the connection," she whispered in awe as tears came to her eyes, "or maybe he has a horrible imagination and just copied the layout," she said as she laughed softly.

Robin smiled fondly down at the girl before looking ahead. "Perhaps," she replied quietly with a soft chuckle.

"Either way, at least we know where he's at. Let's hurry up," Zoro said, and the others nodded and picked up their pace. All the while, Nami explained to them exactly where they needed to go, though most remembered the layout of the castle.

"There it is," Usopp whispered, starting to shake slightly as they neared the facility. Oh, how he wished he were in the dream.

"We're out in the open. I don't like that we're in the open," Zoro muttered, his eyes shifting from side to side.

"D-Do y-you th-think they would have guards?" Usopp stuttered, looking terrified.

"Who knows?" Sanji said, also frowning and shifting his eyes around, trying to spot any kind of movement.

"They're way out in the middle of nowhere though. Do they really need guards?" Franky asked, quirking his brow as he also looked about.

"Maybe cameras were all they needed?" Hancock said, having been silent that whole time, though she was frowning.

"Maybe," Nami replied, causing the other woman to snort, which Nami didn't fail to miss. However, she ignored it as she looked around just as carefully. "Where we need to go is this way," she said, moving off towards the side, though she was wary.

"I-I-I see a c-c-camera!" Usopp cried, pointing up towards a camera.

"Shit," Zoro growled, frowning deeply, but then suddenly, the camera just stopped and lowered, as if it was shut off, right as it spotted them. "What the-?" he exclaimed, looking confused.

"Did that camera just shut off?" Sanji asked, looking to the others, but they had no answer.

"Let's get to the entrance then!" Nami cried, breaking into a run in the opposite direction. Coming to a vent, she then pointed to it and said, "We need to get it open!"

"Move," Zoro said as he and Sanji approached it.

"Here, I got it," Sanji said, lifting up and leg kicking in the vent, and then Zoro wrenched it away, tossing it aside.

"N-N-Nice!" Usopp started, staring at them both in awe.

"Whatever, let's just go," Zoro muttered as he motioned for the others to go first. Sanji went in first, and Zoro brought up the rear.

They crawled through the air ducts before Nami finally whispered to Sanji, "There, Sanji-kun, that's where we need to go."

Nodding his understanding, Sanji sat back, and looked over the vent. If he kicked it in, it might make too much noise. "Lemme!" Usopp whispered loudly as he carefully inched passed Nami, who squeezed up against the wall, and Sanji climbed to the other side of the vent to get out of Usopp's way.

Inspecting the vent, Usopp frowned and whispered, "A screwdriver could open this."

"Here, I got one in my pack!" Franky whispered, passing it on to Hancock, who then passed it to Robin, who then passed it to Nami, who then passed it to Usopp.

"Thanks!" Usopp replied back in a whisper with a grin on his face. He then set to work on opening up the vent, which took some time. On the last screw, Sanji reached down to hold the vent, so it wouldn't fall down. "Thanks," Usopp muttered as he worked before getting the last screw off.

Sanji carefully eased the vent inside with them before setting it behind him, and then carefully, he lowered his head to assess the surroundings inside. Coming back up, he whispered, "It's clear. Usopp, you first." He held out his hand to Usopp, so that he could lower him down.

"D-D-D-Do I gotta be first?" Usopp stuttered, but Sanji gave him a look. With a sigh, Usopp took his hand and eased himself out of the vent as Sanji lowered him down. Once he was low enough, Sanji released his hand, and Usopp landed soundlessly on the floor below. Crouching down, he then moved out of the way.

Sanji helped each person down, before he and Zoro just jumped down with the others. "Looks clear," Zoro said, looking down each side of the hall.

"For now, anyway. We should get moving. It's this way," Nami whispered as she moved on, and the others followed her. However, Nami gasped and froze when she saw a camera, slowly rotating down the hall. Again, the moment the camera caught sight of them, it slowly drooped and stopped rotating.

"Did that camera just shut off again?" Usopp whispered to the others, who looked just as confused.

"Well, he did say he had help on the inside. Let's keep going," Sanji said, looking to Nami, who nodded and kept going.

They turned down hall after hall, and finally, Nami spoke up. "Just through this d-" Nami stopped her words with a soft gasp as she pulled back and pressed herself against the walls, and the others quickly scrambled to do the same. On the other side, they could hear voices, though they were speaking softly.

"How are we supposed to get passed them?" Usopp whispered to them, though no one answered as their minds raced to figure out this problem.

After awhile, Zoro said, "We're going to need a distraction."

"But what if you get caught or worse!" Usopp exclaimed in a loud whisper, but Zoro clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Let us worry about that," Zoro replied before looking up at both Sanji and Franky, who nodded back to him.

"What are you going to do?" Nami whispered, looking towards Zoro.

"Anything we can to draw them out of the room, so you all can bust Luffy and Ace out," Zoro replied, staring back at her.

She was silent for a long time as they just stared at one another, but then she bit her lip and nodded. "Okay, but please, be careful," she said, looking to the others as well, who just nodded with smiles.

"He seems to have calmed down considerably. I don't know what he was doing, but he's not doing it anymore."

Everyone froze, listening to the conversation inside.

"His brain patterns have returned to normal. He almost seems to be resting. Tony Tony, can you tell us what's going on now?"

"_Luffy is currently sleeping."_

They quickly looked to one another, their eyes wide, and at the same time, they all whispered, "Chopper!"

"Before, can you not still tell us what was going on?"

There was silence for awhile, but then Chopper's voice came again, though it sounded artificial, _"It is still unclear what happened. Further analysis is needed."_

"Right," the same man replied with an audible sigh. "I wonder what's going on. Maybe Tony Tony's got a virus. We even got a call that some of the cameras suddenly went down, but Tony Tony just said there were some errors, and that he was currently workin' on it."

"Huh, strange," came another voice from inside.

Nami's eyes widened further before looking towards the others with a questioning look. "It looks like Chopper's the inside help," Zoro replied with a smirk.

"The cameras went down exactly at the time we were caught sight of," Robin replied with a smile.

Suddenly, Chopper's voice came again, _"I have located the errors. Please, will you assist in fixing them?"_

"Oh? You found the errors? All right, what do you need us to do?"

There was silence for awhile, but then suddenly, Chopper replied again, _"There may have been a power surge that damaged some of my data cells. Please, will you have a look?"_

"Yeah, all right," the man said, "let's go."

He seemed to be talking to the other man, and then they heard movement before both stood up. They tensed up and even looked around for a place to hide, but the men never left out of the door they were standing by. After awhile, they heard Chopper's voice again, _"They are gone now. You may come in."_

"E-Eh?" Nami whispered, blinking back at the others in confusion, who looked just as confused.

However, Chopper spoke again, _"You've come for Luffy and Ace, have you not? We have been waiting for you."_

Nami's lips slowly parted, but then she slowly peered inside, seeing that the room was in fact empty. "Ch-Chopper?" she whispered, looking around.

"_Yes, I am Chopper, Tony Tony Chopper, computer AI created by Doctor Vegapunk. Nami, please, you must hurry. They will be back shortly when they realize my data cells are not damaged. Take Luffy and Ace, and leave this place."_

With a gasp, Nami hurried inside, and the others quickly followed her in, looking around, they just gaped at all the strange things. There were buttons, lights flashing, tubes filled with liquid and machines everywhere. There were about twenty or so men and women inside of the tubes, floating in some sort of liquid with cords attached to them all over, several in the heads. Their only attire, for the men with tight shorts, and for the women, strapless two piece swim suits, all the same color, a dark blue.

"_Luffy is located in tube number zero six, and Ace is located in the tube number zero eight. Please hurry."_

"R-Right," Nami said, going to the sixth tube and looking up at the person inside. With a gasp, she then pressed her palms into the glass. It was Luffy all right. "Luffy," she whispered before looking to the others. "We need to get them out of here."

"_Luffy, Ace, awaken, your friends are here,"_ Chopper suddenly said, and Luffy's eyes flew open, bubbles floating from the mask covering over his mouth and nose to the top of the tank. Blinking his eyes a few times, he then looked down, seeing Nami there. He reacted immediately upon seeing her, moving to press his palms into the other side of the glass.

"Luffy!" she called, starting to smile as tears came to her eyes.

Seeing her smile, and her mouth moving, his eyes widened as he moved a little lower to be level with her. However, his eyes were suddenly alight, and he looked to be smiling in return, though it was hidden behind his mask.

"Oi, Ace is over here!" Sanji called, standing in front of Ace's tube, who had also opened his eyes, looking to each of them.

Suddenly, there was a loud click, and the machines began to make noise, causing Nami to gasp and move away from the tubes. Luffy moved his head from side to side, looking down towards the bottom of the tube, and then the liquid began to drain from each of their tubes. Once the liquid drained passed their waists, both dropped down to their hands and knees, and weakly removed the masks from their faces. Once all the water was gone, the tubes hissed before opening slowly.

"Luffy!"

"Ace!"

Looking up at all of them, Luffy grinned widely, though weakly back at them. "Thanks guys," he said, though his voice was hoarse and almost nonexistent. Then he reached up, beginning to pull the cords off from him. "Ngh," he exclaimed with some of them as long needles were pulled from his flesh and skull.

"Oh, Luffy, let me," Nami said, stepping up to carefully remove all the needles and cords from him.

"Thanks," he husked, grinning wider.

Once all the cords were removed from both, Zoro and Sanji carefully helped them both up to support them as they walked. "They've had us in those tanks for a few months. I feel like I'll never be able to use my legs or arms properly again, "Ace husked with a grunt as he attempted to make his legs move.

"I think we have some water in the packs," Hancock muttered to herself as she dug around her pack. "Ah!" she exclaimed. "Here you are, Luffy," she said, moving to Luffy with a flush as she opened the water and helped him to drink it.

"I have some more water," Robin said, taking it to Ace.

"_They are coming back. You must leave now."_

"Not … going … without you, Chopper," Luffy rasped, panting lightly to how heavily he had drunk the water.

There was silence from Chopper before finally he spoke, _"It's too risky, Luffy, and I'm afraid it would take too long for you to be able to take me with you. You must go."_

"Not goin' without you, Chopper!" Luffy cried, looking determined.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Luffy. You either tell us how to take you with us, or we all get caught. So, you'd better hurry and tell us," Zoro said, looking about.

There was silence again, but then Chopper spoke up again, though his voice had eerily gone quiet, _"All right,"_ he replied, and his voice actually sounded soft, _"leave out the way you came, and I will guide you to me. However, you will have to take the long way."_

"All right, you heard him. Let's go," Zoro said with a smirk as they hurriedly left the room.

"_Follow the cameras!"_

"Right!" Usopp called back into the room, and then they were gone.

Not but a two minutes later, the men were back. "Tony Tony, we didn't find any corrupted data cells."

"_Then perhaps the errors are deeper than I thought. Allow me a moment to analyze again."_

The men glanced to each other skeptically, and then one said as he looked to Chopper, "Yeah, we're definitely thinking it's something deeper. Maybe you should let us have a look."

"_Allow me to do it myself, and if the problem is not fixed, I will allow you to have a look."_

"Right," the other muttered with a sigh as he sat down and turned his chair slightly, but then he froze, noticing the two empty tubes. "What tha-?" he cried, sitting straight up. "Tony, where are experiments six and eight?"

"What?" the other guy exclaimed, turning to see the empty tubes.

"Definitely deeper errors, Tony!" the first man exclaimed as he turned to frown at the computer. Then he turned to his partner and cried, "Sound the alarm! We might have intruders!"

"Right!" the second man cried as he stood and hit the button, causing the alarms to blare and red lights to flare.

"Shit, we need to hurry!" Sanji cried as they quickly made their way down the halls.

They looked about for the live cameras to follow, like Chopper had instructed before finally coming to a room. Going inside, they looked around to the large computer and just gaped. "It's huge!" Usopp exclaimed as his jaw dropped.

"How the hell're we supposed to get him out of that thing?" Zoro asked, looking over to the others.

"Perhaps his program can be stored?" Robin suggested, going over to the computer and having a look.

"Store him in what?" Zoro asked, quirking a brow to the woman.

"Perhaps this terabyte external hard drive?" she said, turning to smile at him while holding something up.

"Uh, whatever, just get it done so we can get the hell out of here," Zoro said, frowning at the woman, who just smiled knowingly.

Turning around, she started pushing buttons and looking at monitors before hooking up the hard drive to a certain place. She worked for a bit before finally unplugging the device and turning to them. "It's done," she said, holding out the device.

"Good job, Robin," Luffy said with a weak grin, but then he said, "There's one more thing we need to do before we go."

"One more thing? But Luffy, we have to go," Nami said, frowning at him softly.

"Please, Nami," Luffy pleaded, smiling at her.

"We can't leave him here," Ace added, leaning heavily on Franky.

"Leave him?" Nami asked, starting to frown, but then her eyes slowly shifted to the side in thought.

"Brook, we gotta get Brook," Zoro said, looking over to Nami.

"Oh, Brook!" she exclaimed, remembering the skeleton. "Of course!" she cried before heading out, but then she turned and asked, "Where is he?"

"He's in the medical ward, in a tube, like we were, only he's receiving special treatment," Ace explained as they walked. "It's just down here."

However, just then, a few men with guns turned the corner, and upon spotting them, they drew their guns. "Hold it right there!"

"Shit!" Ace exclaimed with a scowl.

Luffy pushed against Zoro and Sanji to step forward, though he stumbled. "Get back!" he cried before holding his arms out in front of him.

To anyone else there, his arms appeared to stretch forward, and two of the men with guns were punched in the face by his fists. Luffy brought his arms back, and they retracted to their original state. "What the hell?" Zoro exclaimed, gaping at Luffy, and the others looked no different.

"You can actually _do_ that? I thought it was just because we were in the dream!" Usopp exclaimed, his jaw almost hitting the floor.

"No, it's an illusion," Ace said, smirking widely as he pushed off Franky and stumbled forward towards Luffy. "They only think they see him stretching, though he _is_ using his energy to attack them … like this," he continued as he also held his arms out.

"He's attacking! Fire, but try not to kill the experiments! Kill the others!"

Nami gasped, but just as the men fired, Luffy also held out his arms, and something translucent came out from them, stopping the bullets and holding them midair. However, then Ace thrust out his other arm, and the sparks, which shot out from the firing weapons, ignited into flames, exploding near the gunmen. They cried out as they flew back, and the bullets both Ace and Luffy were holding fell when their arms did.

"Shit," Ace groaned as his knees buckled, but was caught by Zoro, and Luffy by Sanji. "Takes too much energy, energy we don't have right now," he rasped, breathing deeply as they continued on.

"It's just … this way," Luffy said, pointing ahead towards a door.

"All right, let's hurry up then and get out of here," Zoro said as they moved forward towards the door.

"What the-?" the men inside cried, seeing them there.

However, Luffy's arm shot out, and the man cried out as he grabbed at his own throat. Then Luffy swiped his arm to the side, and the man crashed up against the opposite wall. "Ngh!" Luffy exclaimed, one of his eyes closing as he looked to be in pain.

"Luffy!" Nami cried, seeing a small trickle of blood drip from out of his nose.

"I'm fine! Just get Brook!" Luffy cried as he and Ace took care of the remaining men in the room.

"Right," Sanji muttered, though he looked worried. Handing Luffy to Usopp, he then hurried forward towards Brook's tank. "Wow," Sanji whispered, gaping up at the man in the tube.

"Oh my," Nami whispered as well, slowly coming over towards Sanji.

"Just look at 'im!" Usopp exclaimed, also gaping with the others.

"Holy shit," Ace also whispered as Zoro and Usopp helped Luffy and Ace towards the tube.

They all stared up at the man, floating in the tube in awe. "He looked … so frail in my memory," Nami whispered, and Sanji finally moved to open up the tube. Robin moved over by him to lend him her assistance.

Finally, something clicked, and the liquid began to drain. Once it was all gone, the tube hissed before rising up. Franky stepped up then to help the older gentleman, though he looked so much younger and stronger. With a groan, Brook's eyes slowly opened as the mask over his face was removed.

"Wha-?" he started to ask, but then he began to cough.

"It's gonna be all right, Brook. We're getting you outta here!" Luffy cried, looking worried for the older man, who _should_ have been into his eighties by now. However, he looked to be around in maybe his forties.

Opening his eyes more, Brook looked around for the voice, though his vision was blurry. "Luffy-san? Is that you?" he asked, blinking his eyes up towards Luffy.

"That's right, Brook! We're breaking out of here!"

"Yohohohoho," the man laughed softly, "it's about time."

"Yup, let's get the hell out of here," Ace said, turning to nod to the others, and they quickly left, carrying the three carefully.

They continued down the halls towards the way they had come in. However, as they were about to turn a corner, there were men with guns, already inspecting the open vent. "Shit, can't go that way," Zoro muttered as they all moved away from the corner.

"We'll have to fight our way to the main exit," Luffy said, looking up at them.

"B-B-But wouldn't there b-b-be more guards there?" Usopp asked, looking scared.

"Yes, but the opening is a lot bigger for us to make our escape. We're going to have to fight our way out," Ace replied, looking back down the halls. "Let's hurry," he said, looking up at Zoro, who nodded.

"Let's go," Zoro said as they headed back down the way they come to go to the main exit.

They finally saw the opening at the other end towards the lobby, and sure enough, there were guards about, waiting for them to make their escape. Nami's heart was pounding in her chest. Would they make it out of this? Would they be okay? She bit her lip and held her head high. She didn't regret a thing. She was glad that they were given this opportunity to remember and find their friends.

"There they are!"

"Make sure the experiments stay alive! Kill the other intruders! They can't leave, knowing what they saw!"

"Eee!" Usopp screeched, beginning to shake, but he held Luffy fast, with Sanji on the other side.

Luffy unwrapped his arms from around his friends and stumbled forward, Ace doing the same. "You're not touching my friends," Luffy growled, scowling back at the men with guns.

Brook also pulled away from Franky. "Yohohohoho, we're leaving this place _with_ all of our friends here," he said, looking a little steadier than Ace and Luffy. The three were shielding the others from their sights.

"Be careful, the experiments are powerful. Bring them in at any means possible! Hold fast! They will run out of power eventually!"

"Yes sir!"

"Fire!"

Before they knew what was happening, they could hear the loud banging and clacking of gunfire. Both Ace and Luffy held up their arms to stop the bullets from hitting them and their friends, whereas Brook split off to the side.

"That one is heading around! Fire at him!"

"Yes sir!"

Soon, some of the gunmen were firing at Brook, but the other man was running so fast, they couldn't keep up, and then suddenly, he began running up the wall, to avoid gunfire from a second set of men.

"Yohohohoho!"

He ran all the way towards them, pushed off the wall and kicked one of the gunmen in the head. His movements were quick and precise as he grabbed a rifle from one of the other men, hit him with it, all with dodging bullets coming at him. One by one, within a second each, he was slowly taking out the gunmen.

While Ace held up the shield to block the bullets, Luffy also then moved off, throwing punches to men across the room and knocking some out. "Get them!"

Ace dropped the bullets and ran for the men as well. "We need to do something," Zoro said, turning his head slightly to the others.

Looking to the side, he noticed some thin pipes and smirked. Heading towards them, he began kicking them to loosen them. Noticing him, Sanji also hurried over and helped him get the pipes free. Once they were loose enough, Franky came over and helped yank them free and hand to Zoro.

"Thanks," Zoro replied with a wider smirk. Two pipes would have to do.

Turning towards the men, Zoro then made a run for them with Sanji and Franky, seeing as they gunmen were distracted with Ace, Luffy and Brook. Bringing up a pipe, he then swung, hitting one of the gunmen hard. Sanji jumped up, shoving one down into the ground with his foot, and Franky punched the nearest one to him. The other three remained at the entrance to the hall and watched.

"I wish we could help," Nami whispered, looking anxious as her eyes scanned over the men.

"Look, there they are!"

With a gasp, Nami, Robin and Usopp whirled around to see more gunmen running down the hall towards them. "Oh no! They must have called for backup!" Nami cried, but then screamed when they began to fire at them, and the three moved out of the hall and behind the wall to get away from the gunfire.

"Damn it!" Usopp exclaimed, digging around in his pack. There had to be something there to help him out.

With a grin on his face, he removed a sling shot and looking within the bag more, he noticed some smoke bombs and other things. He removed them, loaded up the slingshot, and then moved into the entrance of the hallway.

"Usopp, what are you doing!" Nami screeched, moving to move him, but then he fired into the hallway.

Once the bombs hit the men, smoke engulfed the hallways, causing the men to stop firing and cough. Then Usopp began firing small explosives into the hall, which exploded, knocking some of the men out. They weren't big enough to do any real damage.

"Very nice," Robin replied with a soft smile.

"Thanks!" Usopp exclaimed, rubbing under his nose with half a smirk.

"We need to get out of here!" Ace cried, looking very tired now. "You guys, get out of here!" he called to the three by the hall way.

"That goes for the three of you as well. Get them out of here! We'll be right behind you!" Luffy called to the three men fighting with them.

"Right," Zoro replied, motioning for the others to follow them.

Nami, Robin and Usopp ran over towards them, and they headed for the exit.

"Tony Tony, close the exit! … Tony!"

"I'm afraid he can't hear you any longer," Robin said, smiling at the man as they ran past and even chuckled.

"Shit! Don't let them get away!"

The men from the hall way, who weren't knocked out or injured ran out of the hallway, immediately aiming towards the three running towards the others. "Stop them! Fire!"

The men immediately began to fire, but Ace jumped out, holding his arms out to stop the bullets. However, one got through before he was able to put up a barrier. "Ngh!" he cried, closing an eye and gritting his teeth. However, he held up the barrier.

"Come on, let's go!" Zoro cried, running behind the three with Sanji and Franky beside him. They burst through the doors, but Zoro turned to the three remaining. "Ace, Luffy, Brook, let's go!" he cried to them, and slowly but surely, they headed for the exit and ran out with them. Nami and Robin pulled out the extra coats and covered them with, but Ace's knees buckled, and he dropped.

"Ace!" Luffy cried, moving over towards his brother.

"I'm … okay," he replied, but his voice was strained with pain.

"Shit, he's been shot!" Luffy exclaimed, looking over the wound.

"Don't worry about it! Just get out of here! I'll hold them off while you run!" Ace cried, giving Luffy a shove.

"No way! I'm not leaving you, Ace! We've come this far! There's no way I'm leaving you behind!" Luffy cried, trying to force Ace up, but Ace shoved him away again.

"Just go, damn it! They're coming!"

"Fuck that," Zoro said, moving up and lifting Ace easily over his shoulder. "Let's go, now!" he ordered to the others, who immediately ran for it as they gunmen began to exit the building and fire at them.

"Damn it! I'll just slow you down!" Ace cried, scowling up at Zoro over his shoulder.

"Shut up!" Zoro barked as they ran, hoping not to get hit by a bullet.

However, suddenly, they stopped, their eyes wide to more men standing several feet away from them. "Oh no!" Nami cried as they also looked at the men behind them. "We're trapped," she whispered, feeling tears pooling in her eyes.

"Shit, this isn't good," Zoro growled, also looking back and forth.

Upon seeing the other men, the gunmen ceased and stared. There just seemed to be a standstill, and the group in the middle looked between each group of men. "What do we do now?" Usopp whispered to the others.

"Hell if I know," Zoro muttered, frowning deeply.

"Luffy, Ace!"

"E-Eh?" Luffy whispered, stepping up weakly to stare at the men blocking their path, his eyes squinting against the snow falling.

"Get down!"

Luffy's eyes widened with a gasp, and then he cried, "Guys, get down!"

The small group dropped to the ground, just as gunfire and even missiles were launched towards the men, pooling around the entrance to the facility. Nami screamed, holding her head with her arms as she curled up. Looking over towards her, Luffy then began crawling towards her. "It's gonna be all right, Nami! It's our gramps!" he called, starting to grin as he wrapped an arm around her.

Looking up at him, he just nodded, and suddenly, those men began running past them to infiltrate the facility. Three big men stopped, their shadows looming over the group as they looked down at them. Looking up as well, Luffy gaped up at the three men, and even Ace looked up as well, but then Luffy slowly started to grin. "Gramps!" he cried, tears even coming into his eyes.

One of the men knelt down, causing his old and ashen face to become visible. "It's been a long time, Luffy," he said, his voice raspy before looking over to Ace, who had also begun to smile.

"Gramps," he called, looking happy to see him.

"You boys okay?" he asked, looking back to Luffy.

However, Luffy's face suddenly fell. "Gramps, Ace's been shot!"

"What!" another voice called, and one of the other men moved towards Ace and knelt down, revealing a mustache wearing man. "Let me see," he said, opening Ace's coat, causing the young man to stiffen, but then he slowly began to frown.

"Dad?" he called quietly, and the man looked up at him, making Ace's eyes widen.

"Let's get them the hell out of here," the final man finally said before kneeling down, revealing his tattooed face, and pulling Luffy to his feet.

"Right," Garp replied as he also helped the others to their feet.

Luffy gaped up at the tattooed man, but had no time to talk as they were ushered off, away from the facility. The mustache man helped Ace as they went while the other men continued into the facility, freeing the experiments and then destroying the place.

As they neared the top of the slight incline, there were snow vehicles waiting for them. "Come on, get in," Garp called to them, ushering them all into a larger vehicle. "We need to get Ace treated right away."

They all entered the vehicle, and then Garp drove off with them. Roger carefully laid his son down on some blankets at the back of the vehicle, already patching up his wound as best he could. "Bullet's still inside," he informed the other two men, and Dragon turned to look over to the pale young man.

"Looks like he's already lost quite a bit of blood too," he observed.

"I'll be fine," Ace replied, though he sounded very tired.

"Still an hour away from camp too," Garp grumbled, glancing back towards him.

"I've stopped most of the bleeding," Roger said, holding a hand over the wound to help stem the bleeding even more.

"Just hold on, Ace," Garp called as he picked up the pace as much as he could without being too reckless.

A little under an hour, the campsite came into view. "We're here," Garp called, pulling to a stop before rushing out. They then carried, an even paler, Ace out carefully and into one of the tents there.

"We have a gunshot wound," Roger called to the men inside, who immediately sprung into action, preparing a bed and items needed.

After Ace was inside, being treated, Dragon and Garp came out and approached them. "Ace should be fine. You all must be tired. Allow me to show you a place where you may rest," Garp said, motioning for them to follow.

Luffy's eyes lingered on the tent with Ace inside, but then he looked up at his grandfather before allowing himself to be ushered away with the others. "You may all sleep in here, and I'll bring a change of clothes for you and your friend, Luffy," Dragon said before leaving.

In the large tent, there were several cots and blankets inside, each with a pillow. "Thank you," Nami muttered, feeling extremely overwhelmed as she went inside.

"Rest up tonight, and tomorrow, we'll get you all back home, where you belong," Garp said before turning towards Luffy and nodding. Luffy nodded before moving off to head for a cot to sit down on. He looked extremely tired. Each immediately fell asleep.

xxxx

"It should work-At least, I hope it does …"

"Well, I guess we'll have to see …"

"Please, allow me."

All the men looked over to the beautiful woman, who spoke, staring for a moment, before they all just backed away. With a bright and kind smile, Robin stepped up and looked over the thing, and then over towards the hard drive. She then began to tinker and connect things, and the men lent her their assistance. After several minutes, they all finally stepped back, admiring their work.

"Now, let's turn him on, shall we?" she replied with a chuckle, making the men pull at the neckline of their shirts. She then began typing away at a laptop, connected to the little droid, and soon, the eyes slowly opened as he booted up.

Soon, the eyes began to blink and look around before they spotted Robin. "Robin?"

"Yes, hello Chopper. Does everything compute?" she asked him with a bright and kind smile.

The droid just seemed to stare at her awhile before nodding, gears whirring slightly as he did. "Yes, it seems all is in order. Thank you," he said, his lips managing to curve into a smile.

With a soft chuckle, Robin gave a nod and held her hand out to him. "Let's practice walking and go and see the others."

"All right!" he exclaimed, looking excited as his hand reached out to take hers.

xxxx

Luffy laughed with the group as they all ate, looking animated and happy. They received the news first thing in the morning that Ace would be just fine, and would recover from his injuries, so the young man was even happier. They were inside one of the larger tents, and tables were set up as sort of a mess hall for everyone to sit and eat. Nami watched them all with a smile, but then she sighed, stood up and headed towards the entrance to look out at the snow outside.

She vaguely wondered when they would be sent home. Would she ever see Luffy again? That was a silly question though, wasn't it? She hadn't even gotten to really talk to him since they got back. She would have liked to have gotten the chance to speak to him about everything before they left, and maybe she would still get her chance. The snow slowly started to cease, and she blinked before stepping all the way out fully. With the weather clearing, she was sure they would be leaving soon.

"Ah! There you are!"

Gasping in surprise, Nami jumped and quickly turned to the voice. Luffy held up his hands as his eyes widened towards her. "Ah, sorry," he said, apologizing for startling her.

"N-No, it's okay," she said, standing straighter as she faced him. "I just wasn't, um, expecting anyone to-um-So, um, you're back with your family. That's great," she said, starting to smile a little nervously.

"Ah, yeah, they've been looking for us for years. They gathered up all these men, some AWOL military men like my gramps. He wasn't too happy when he found out they took me and Ace. Our dad's aren't exactly on their good side. My gramps was just fed up with all the crap they keep pulling," Luffy said with a shrug. "I was able to tell 'em where we were."

"I guess they didn't expect all the things you could do back at the facility, huh?" she asked, starting to relax.

"Ah, nope, which is why we had to hurry, before they did figure it out. Chopper became my friend, and just started lying to them about what he saw and reported. I hope he's okay," he said, starting to frown.

"Luffy!"

"Eh?" Luffy questioned, standing straighter and looking over towards the voice. Robin was walking their way, and walking beside her with his small hand in hers, was a tiny droid, smiling back at Luffy. "Ch-Chopper?"

"Yeah, look! They got me a body from the facility!" Chopper called excitedly as he hobbled over towards Luffy with Robin's help.

"That's awesome!" Luffy cried, kneeling down in front of the little droid AI. He looked extremely excited and impressed.

"Yeah! I feel … happy!" the small reindeer looking droid cried in excitement. "I really feel happy!"

"That's great, Chopper," Luffy replied with a big grin, and his eyes were even a little teary. "I'm glad we were able to get you out of there too," he said, placing a head on the tiny droid's head.

"Me too, Luffy," Chopper replied softly. "I'm so glad you refused to leave me behind. Thanks, Luffy."

"No need to thank me. We're friends, right? And friends never leave each other behind, right?" Luffy said, grinning wider.

"Right!" Chopper cried, grinning as widely as he could. "I want to go and see the others. Are they inside?"

"Yup, they're all eating breakfast!" Luffy said, rubbing over his head, and then Chopper and Robin disappeared inside, and soon there were cheers as Chopper was greeted and welcomed.

Luffy chuckled softly, looking inside to the others before turning his smile back to Nami. She just offered her own smile before looking off, and then she said, "I guess we'll be going home today, huh? Especially since the weather has cleared up."

"Ah, yeah, I guess so," he replied, looking out as well, and a silence fell over them for awhile, but then he finally spoke up, though softly. "You remembered," he stated, not asked.

She was quiet for a long time, but then she nodded and said very softly, "Yes, just after I woke up here. I remembered everything."

"Good, I'm glad," he replied, still just as quietly as they both stared off. "Thanks for helping get us out, Nami."

"You don't need to thank me. We're friends, right? And friends never leave each other behind right?" she said, quoting him as she turned her smile to him, and he, in turn, turned to look at her.

After awhile, he started to smile, which soon turned into a grin. "Right!"

As she smiled, tears began to form again, and then before she really thought about it, she moved forward, her arms encircling around him. "I'm glad we were able to get you out, Luffy," she whispered, hugging him tight.

He was a bit surprised to say the least as he remained still and rigid, but then he started to relax, his arms slowly going around her. "Me too," he replied after awhile.

"You and Ace and Brook, you were all in there for so long, and I couldn't even remember," she said as they tears started to fall more continuously.

"It's all right, Nami. Even if you had remembered, it wouldn't have mattered. We were just barely strong enough to pull this off finally. Everything else had merely been a test of my ability," he said, sighing deeply as he rested his forehead on her shoulder.

She remained silent, taking in his words, but then after awhile, she frowned and whispered, "Luffy, why Alice in Wonderland?"

He chuckled then and said, "I thought you remembered."

"What?" she asked, pulling away to show him her confusion.

"Don't you remember? We found it in the library, but we couldn't really read it very well, only bits and pieces of words we knew, and you laughed at me and said I would be the Mad Hatter, and that you would like to be Alice, going on an adventure like that," he said, grinning down at her. "I had hoped you would remember me if I gave everything in the dream that setting. I had hoped you would like the adventure too," he said, looking sheepish as he scratched his cheek and looked down.

Nami could only stare back at him, letting all of that now sink in, but then flashes over her childhood long forgotten began to emerge. She suddenly remembered the library, the book, and their laughter as they tried to read it together. She slowly began to smile, though more tears formed and fell. "I remember," she whispered softly, her eyes lifting up to his again. "You gave me my adventure."

Grinning widely now, he snickered and nodded. "Yup!"

It was all very sweet, really. He must have gone through a lot of trouble to do what he did for her. And it was all because he had wanted her to remember him. It would have been useless simply telling her, if she still couldn't remember him. And who was to say she would have believed him? It was strange. She remembered towards the end of the dream, when they had been dancing, she had been desperate to remember, even if she didn't quite remember.

Suddenly, she gasped and cried, "Oh, the dance!" Her eyes were wide and thoughtful as she brought her fingers to her lips. He continued to grin at her, just waiting for her to work it all out. "Oh, I remember," she whispered, starting to smile wider. "It wasn't just the book. We-We asked to watch the movie too! It was easier than reading the book. There was no dancing though!" she said, starting to laugh. "Not like the other movies we always watched, and you hated them all! You liked Alice in Wonderland though, but I made a big deal about the no dancing, and you looked so disgusted, and I was so mad at you!" Despite her laughter, tears continued to fall.

"Yup," he replied, though more softly this time as he just smiled at her.

Finally, her eyes moved back towards him, blinking softly as the tears fell, and she whispered, "You were trying so hard to make me remember."

He lowered his eyes then, though he kept a small, sad smile, the same one she remembered from the dream. "You were my best friend, Nami. Of course I wanted you to remember," he replied softly.

Again, she threw her arms around him to hug him as she cried. "You were my best friend too, Luffy! I remember, I used to wake up screaming in the middle of the night when I was little, and just crying, and I was terrified, but we could never figure out why!" she cried, holding him tight. "I did remember-I did! I was so desperate to remember; only I didn't want to remember at all, because it hurt too much! And I was so scared! I had no idea-I had no idea! I remember I would get so depressed for no reason, and it was horrible!"

"It's all right, Nami," he said softly, hugging her back with a frown.

"I'm so glad-I'm so glad," she whispered, burying her face into his neck. "Thank you, Luffy; thank you for helping me remember, even though I don't need to thank you. I really missed you. I-I know I did-I did. Luffy, when we go home, I'll see you again, right? I'll see you again, please?" she asked, pulling away to look at him.

He was grinning again, and he nodded his head. "Of course we'll see each other again! I won't have gone through all that trouble, just to not see my best friend again, right! Shishishishishi!" he said as he snickered. "You are all my friends! I'll see you all again, I promise!"

She just stared at him, but then she finally nodded and tried to smile before hugging him again. "Thank you, Luffy. I've never felt this relieved and-Wow, I feel really good, like this huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It was so heavy; what I carried. It was so heavy."

"Yeah, it was heavy," he whispered in agreement.

Now that she had found her friend, she was having such a hard time letting him go now. It had always been that way. She had never really been able to let him go. Even if they had just been small children, he had been such an important friend to her. What happened at the museum that day, so long ago had been traumatizing to her and her mind, despite being forced to forget. The mind, nor the heart, ever really forgets, especially something and someone so important … so special.

Finally, after awhile, with a sniffle, she finally pulled back, taking his hands into hers and smiled. She gave them a squeeze and nodded, feeling as if everything was right in the world again. He grinned and snickered, also giving her hands a squeeze in reply.

"Mmm," a sudden growl came, "looks like the weather's finally cleared. We'd better get these kids home before it starts again."

"Ah, gramps?" Luffy questioned, turning to see his grandfather and father.

"Mm, I'll get the pilot and get everything ready," Dragon said, going back into the dining tent.

Feeling a bit of fear, Nami's hands tightened on Luffy's, making him turn towards her with his owlish and innocent eyes, but then he grinned, giving hers another squeeze. "It'll be all right, Nami," he whispered to her. Looking back at him, she just nodded, though she kept her frown.

xxxx

"All right, everyone into the plane and strap yourselves in!" Garp called to the group as he ushered them towards the plane.

Biting her lip, Nami looked over the plane as she watched her friends enter into it, find a seat and begin strapping themselves in. She stopped, however, just staring at the plane, but then she turned back towards where Luffy was standing near his father and Roger. "Come on, little girl, we gotta get goin' before the snow starts again!" Garp said, frowning down at her. However, he was ignored.

Nami started walking back over towards Luffy again, who was just smiling at her. She knew that these men, including Luffy, were most likely wanted men. They were going to have to go into hiding, and therefore, she may never see him again. Even if he did say he wouldn't have gone through that much trouble just to not see her again, was it really up to him?

Stopping in front of him, she then sighed and wrapped him up into a hug again. Then she whispered, "We'd better see each other again, Luffy. You never stopped being my best friend, even if I was forced to forget you, and you did so much to make sure I remembered." Then she pulled away to smile at him before giving his arm a soft punch.

"Ow," he said, but then he snickered.

"Besides, we have a ton of movies we need to catch up on and other things too. You just remember _that_," she said, giving a hearty nod.

"Shishishi, yup. Don't worry, Nami. We'll see each other again," he said, grinning at her widely. "I promise that we will," he said, holding up his hand.

With a wide smile, she released a huff, remembering that specific handshake. She clutched his hand, her fingers overlapping his thumb as his did the same to hers, and they gave it a good shake. "All right, it's a promise. I'm believing you now, Luffy. Don't you dare let me down," she replied softly.

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. He wouldn't let her down.

She kept his hand for awhile before finally releasing it, and then she turned to enter the plane with the others. Looking out of the window, she looked right at him, keeping her smile. She believed him now that she would see him again, because she knew the extents he would go to insure it. With a big grin on his face, he waved them goodbye with Chopper and Brook right beside him, waving as well.

"Boy does know there's no way he can see them again, right?" Dragon muttered between him, Roger and Garp.

"Mm, too risky. He'll figure it out," Garp muttered back in reply, while Roger merely grumbled.

"You can try and stop me."

All three men blinked, looking over towards the young man, who was too far to really hear them, and so were shocked to learn that he had. The boy was still staring at the plane and smiling, but his brows had dipped down into his nose. However, he then blinked his eyes over to them, keeping that smirk. All three men just hummed in a thoughtful growl as they frowned back at the boy.

"Anyways, I best be off," Garp muttered as he entered the plane and sat down beside the pilot. "Let's go," he said to the man, and he nodded.

As they flew over the arctic, Nami just stared out of her window, thinking about everything that had happened. She turned then, looking towards her friends and even teachers, just feeling that awe. Had all of that really happened? Of course it did. It was all so strange. She then looked back out towards her small window … and just smiled.

**The End …**

**Author's Note: **Yes, yes I did just end it that way. Wanna fight about it? Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this strange part. X3 *Snicker* And, yeah, yeah, so both Ace and Roger are still alive; sue me. I was tired of all the depression, okay? ;~; I needed my own happy ending, one where ACE LIVES, DAMN IT! Lemme 'lone … ;~; And sorry, but Chopper couldn't be a reindeer and neither could Brook be a skeleton; so sue me again. If you didn't like my interpretation of them, TOO BAD! Hmm, there was something I wanted to point out, and I told myself, I better write it in my A/N now before I forget! Well I didn't, and now I forgot … Oh right! I remember now! XD The other movies are Disney movies, of course, but I just didn't want to say so during the fic. You know, like Cinderlla, Beauty and the Beast and all those movies that have dancing. Yeah, it was a last minute decision. Deal with it … Anyways, I hope it all made sense to you guys, and if it didn't, oh well … ~.~ Thanks for reading. :)


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